Archive for pear tart
A few tasty pear desserts
Perhaps my sweet tooth has been indulged too much over the festive season, or maybe it’s the latter stages of pregnancy: I just can’t stop thinking about desserts, and these pear-based treats are my current culinary (and aesthetic) obsession. They promise something of a celebratory year, and I thought you might care to join me in a tour of a few favourites.
I recently discovered a new favourite foodie blog – Poires au Chocolat (who could resist such a tempting title?) – a collection of elegantly chosen and beautifully photographed recipes by Emma Gardner, a student of pâtisserie and a specialist in English Medieval literature. Clearly this lady has the ability to seek out and transform the edible eclectic into the ecstatic.
Above and below are a few of her pear recipes and photos, but there are so many more to choose from – I highly recommend a visit and a pootle through her blog (apart from anything else it is visually stunning and superbly written).
Above, with sparkler inserted, is Emma’s Pear and Chocolate Loaf, and below is her Spiced Caramel and Pear Bundt Cake
Then come the Rosé Poached Pears…
Another blog featuring deliciously tempting pear treats is Sprinkle Bakes – this time written by Heather Baird, whose aim it is to create recipes, and write about desserts, that are “joyful, colorful, interesting and special.”
Heather’s d’Anjou Poached Pear and Almond Cakes are illustrated at the top of the post, and below are her Poached Pears in Puff Pastry Bed. Both seem to me to perfectly epitomise all that is worth celebrating about the pear.
Finally, I’ve been trying to contact the author of this French recipe for Pear and Almond pots with a Praline Centre – but Alice Ridel remains something of a mystery chef on the online site for the Journal des Femmes. If you read French and enjoy a challenge (and a chocolatey reward), then these pots of joy are for you.
To sum up, here are the contact details for all of the above blogs and chefs (that I can trace for you). The photos and the recipes are all by, and copyrighted to, the named authors so please be respectful if/when you share their pear treasures.
The Poires au Chocolat blog is by Emma Gardner (you can follow her on Twitter here, or become a friend on Facebook here).
Sprinkle Bakes is written by Heather Baird (and you can follow her on Twitter here, or become a friend on Facebook here).
If anyone can offer suggestions of how I could thank Alice Ridel for her creativity in the pear department, please do leave me a message below.
You might also like…
Pears in the Kitchen, Pear + Chocolate Cake Pots, Pear half hostess or Pears in the Kitchen (2)
Pears in the kitchen
One of the most common searches resulting in a blog hit on owlsandpears.com is “pear tart”. Apparently over 500 people have arrived here just by googling “pear tart”. I’m stunned. So for all those pear tart lovers out there, here’s a blog post just for you.
Before we get started on the best pear tart recipe, I must first draw your attention to this noteworthy notebook from the Jamie Oliver website. Currently on sale for £8 (reduced from £10), it’s made from recycled paper and is the perfect place to store all your favourite recipes. I don’t have one myself, but the website blurb promises “handy paper pockets” for storing seeds, lists, receipts and other sundries. That in itself would be enough to tempt me, but luckily it is also covered with a very pretty pear illustration from designer Gail Bryson.
Those of you who are as addicted to Design*Sponge as I am will probably already have read the recent post all about Megan Fizell’s incredible pear tart – if not, click here for the full shebang, including the recipe and some cracking photos too.
Megan is based in Sydney and writes a blog – Feasting on Art – about recipes she has created that are inspired by her love of art and photography. It’s like nothing you’ve seen before. The pear tart with whiskey cream she devised in response to the work below by American pop artist, Tom Wesselmann (1931-2004).
Tom Wesselmann, ‘Still Life #2′, 1962
oil and collage on board
121.9 x 122.2 cm
Norton Simon Museum
To finish off, here’s a link to a recipe for a pear cake with a twist, courtesy of a good friend with a passion for good food. It’s dairy-free, easy to make and sounds absolutely delicious. Click here for a step-by-step guide to pear heaven on Ren’s recipe blog.
Habitat pear flan dish, with pear tart on the side
It’s been a few weeks since I spotted this Habitat (@HabitatUK) flan dish while idly pootling along Regent Street. Sometimes pretty things such as these come and go so quickly, but luckily this AVEN porcelain pear print flan dish is still for sale in store and online. And what a bargain – only 15 of her majesty’s finest would be enough to secure you the best flan dish on the market this side of Christmas (who knows what 2011 will bring us on the pear print flan dish front).
I really like the fresh, clean fruit design, the nicely contrasting stalks and the subtle Scandinavian style edging on the outer rim of the flan dish.
And if all of this pear flan dish talk is making you salivate, then get your aprons on: the fantastic peeps at USA Pears (@USApears) have sent me a recipe for fresh Anjou pear tart, which you can access here.
