Kiwi Kylee Newton is a passionate self-taught preserver. Her book The Modern Preserver's Kitchen keeps us in step with the seasons and helps to rediscover a timeless kitchen craft, with 130 creative and unique recipes for both preserves and recipes to use them in.
Here we share her delicious pear frangipane tart recipe, using pickled pears - although feel free to swap out for poached pears too, if pickling isn't on the cards.
Ingredients
| 1-2 | pickled pears, halved lengthways and patted dry with paper towel (see recipe below) |
Shortcut pastry
| 200g | plain flour, plus extra for dusting |
| 90g | icing sugar |
| 3 Tbsp | cocoa powder |
| Pinch | sea salt |
| 100g | cold unsalted butter, cubed, plus extra for greasing |
| 1 | egg, chilled |
| 1–2 Tbsp | ice-cold water (if needed) |
Frangipane
| 100g unsalted butter, cubed |
| 80g dark chocolate (at least 70 per cent cocoa solids), roughly chopped |
| 3 Tbsp cocoa powder |
| 2 large eggs, at room temperature |
| 100g golden caster or granulated sugar |
| 180g ground almonds |
To serve
| 300g | crème fraîche |
| 1 | lemon, finely grated zest and juice |
Directions
- To make the pastry, sift the flour, icing sugar, cocoa and salt into a large bowl. Add the cold butter and rub the mixture between your fingers into fine crumbs. Mix through the egg until the mixture clumps together. Add a little ice-cold water if needed to bring together. Shape into a ball, place in an airtight container and refrigerate for 60 minutes or up to 24 hours.
- Grease a 24cm (9½in) loose-bottomed tart pan.
- Roll the chilled pastry out between two pieces of greaseproof paper lightly dusted with flour to a disc 28–30cm (11–12in) in diameter and about 2mm (¹/16in) thick. Carefully line the tart pan with the pastry, gently pushing it into the edges and grooves of the pan using a little excess pastry. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan).
- To make the frangipane, melt the butter and chocolate in a small bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring until completely smooth. Remove from the heat, whisk through the cocoa powder and set aside to cool, but not harden. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, then whisk in the sugar until pale and creamy. Fold this through the melted chocolate mixture until just combined, then gently mix through the ground almonds.
- Remove the tart shell from the fridge and prick the base. Fill with the frangipane mixture, spreading evenly with a spatula. Slice the pears into wedges or carefully fan-cut the pear halves and decoratively press them into the surface of the tart. It will rise slightly when baked to envelope them.
- Bake in the middle of the oven for 30–40 minutes so that the surface is firm and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely then remove from the pan.
- Serve with crème fraîche mixed with lemon zest and juice.
Pickled pears
Makes a 1 litre jar
600ml white wine vinegar
200ml filtered water
150g white/golden granulated sugar
Pinchsea salt
3 strips of pared lemon zest
50ml lemon juice
1 cinnamon stick
3 cardamom pods, gently smashed
¾ tsp black peppercorns
2–3 pears, whole, pricked, or peeled or chopped (blanch if very firm)
3 sprigs of lemon thyme
1. Combine vinegar, water, sugar, salt, lemon and spices in a large, non-reactive pan, keeping the lemon thyme to one side until the jarring stage. Place over a medium heat, stirring until the sugar and salt dissolve and the spices infuse. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes, then allow the brine to cool slightly.
2. Pack your prepped pears and the lemon thyme sprigs, into clean (or sterilised), cool jars. Try to fit in as much as possible without squashing or forcing too tightly, leaving a gap of about 1cm (½in) from the top rim.
3. Pour the brine over the fruit. Gently tap out any trapped bubbles, or use a chopstick to manoeuvre the bubbles out, making sure you get out as many as you can (this trapped air can encourage fermentation). Top up with brine again so the produce is entirely covered, up to 2–3mm (⅛in) from the very top, and seal with a sterilised dry lid.
- Click here for Kylee's chocolate mousse with sweet pickled raspberries recipe.
- Click here for more of Kylee Newton's fruit pickling tips, tricks and recipes.
Edited extract from The Modern Preserver's Kitchen: Cooking with Jam, Chutney, Pickles and Ferments by Kylee Newton, photography by Laura Edwards. Published by Quadrille, RRP $49.99. Available in stores nationally.
