This delicious pear tart originates from the Italian autonomous province of Trentino/Südtirol and much like the entire region that it comes from, it perfectly embraces its Austro – Italian heritage. The Italian amaretti cookies give this cake its unique flavor, the rustic form and look of the tart remind me of Austrian countryside living and their world famous Kaffeehauskultur.
Sweet, juicy, ripe pears combined with the warm flavors of almonds and cinnamon make this tart a perfect autumn dessert.
Italian Pear Tart Recipe
Course: DessertCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Medium8
servings1
hour30
minutes50
minutesSweet, juicy, ripe pears combined with the warm flavors of almonds and cinnamon make this tart a perfect autumn dessert.
Ingredients
- Shortcrust pastry
300 g / 10.6 oz all purpose flour
1 pinch of salt
150 g / 5.3 oz fine sugar
150 g / 5.3 oz butter, cut in small cubes
1 egg
1 egg yolk
a few drops of vanilla flavor essence or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 – 3 teaspoons water
confectioners’ sugar for sprinkling
- Filling
4 tablespoons apricot preserves
60 g / 2.1 oz amaretti cookies (alternatively other comparable small almond cookies), crushed
3 ripe pears, peeled, cored and cut into thin wedges
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
a handful of raisins
60 g 2.1 oz braun cane sugar
Method
- Sift flour and salt onto a clean work bench. Make a well in the middle and add sugar, butter, egg, egg yolk, vanilla extract and 2 teaspoons water.
- Work the ingredients with your fingers, step by step incorporating more of the flour into the dough until its smooth and elastic. If the dough appears to be too dry and crumbly add the 3rd teaspoon of water. Form the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic food wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 400F / 200C. Adjust the oven rack to a middle position. Line the bottom of the spring form with parchment paper and lightly butter the sides. Roll out 3/4 of the dough and line with it the bottom and sides of the prepared baking pan.
- Spread the bottom with the apricot preserves and sprinkle with the crushed amaretti cookies. Arrange the pear wedges in a circle on top of the amaretti and sprinkle with cinnamon, raisins and braun cane sugar.
- Roll the left over 1/3 of shortcrust pastry into thin strings and arrange them in a criss-crossed pattern to create a perfect lattice crust (about 4 -5 strings in each direction).
- Bake for 50 minutes until the top is golden brown and cooked through. Let cool down, gently remove from the baking pan and sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar. Serve warm or cold.
