Name: Pear and chocolate tart with a hint of mint
Prep time: 53 min
Cook time: 1 h 7 min
Total time: 2 h
Yield: 1 tart
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 100 g confectioner's custard (crème pâtissière, or french pastry cream); 1 litre poaching syrup; 5 Pears; 250 g sweetcrust pastry (pâte sablée); 2 eggs; 10 g vanilla sugar; 100 ml whole milk; 250 ml liquid cream; 200 g dark chocolate; 1 tablespoon toasted flaked almonds

For 1 tart, you will need:

1 100 g confectioner's custard (crème pâtissière, or french pastry cream)
2 1 litre poaching syrup
3 5 Pears
4 250 g sweetcrust pastry (pâte sablée)
5 2 eggs
6 10 g vanilla sugar
7 100 ml whole milk
8 250 ml liquid cream
9 200 g dark chocolate
10 1 tablespoon toasted flaked almonds (optional)
Total weight: 2,910 grams

Times for this recipe

Preparation

55 min.

Cooking

1 hour 7 min.

All in all

2 hours 2 min.

Preparation 55 min.

Cooking 1 hour 7 min.

When should you start or finish this recipe?

If you start now, at , you will finish around: ?.Change start time

To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time

Step-by-step recipe

Step 1 - ⌛ 30 min.

Pear and chocolate tart with a hint of mint : Step 1

Prepare 100 g confectioner's custard (crème pâtissière, or french pastry cream), but instead of vanilla, add a handful of mint leaves to the milk.

This will give you a mint-flavoured custard, which you can colour green for added eye-appeal.

Set aside.

Step 2 - ⌛ 15 min.

Pear and chocolate tart with a hint of mint : Step 2

The pears

Peel 5 Pears and poach in the syrup.

They should be soft when done: a knife blade should go through very easily.

Cover and leave to cool in the syrup.

Step 3 - ⌛ 3 min.

Pear and chocolate tart with a hint of mint : Step 3

Slice the pears crosswise into rounds about the same thickness as the depth of your tart (for mine, this was about half an inch (1.5 cm).

You will have offcuts that you can use in another recipe, such as poire belle hélène.

Step 4 - ⌛ 3 min.

Pear and chocolate tart with a hint of mint : Step 4

Cut out and discard the pear cores. An apple corer is idel for this, or use a small pointed knife.

Set aside.

Step 5 - ⌛ 30 min.

Pear and chocolate tart with a hint of mint : Step 5

The sweetcrust pastry case

Use 250 g sweetcrust pastry (pâte sablée) to line a 9-inch (22 cm) tart tin or ring, then bake blind.

Leave the cooked pastry case in its tin, as it will be going back in the oven later.

Step 6 - ⌛ 2 min.

Pear and chocolate tart with a hint of mint : Step 6

The chocolate cream filling

Whisk together 2 eggs and 10 g vanilla sugar until well mixed.

Step 7 - ⌛ 7 min.

Pear and chocolate tart with a hint of mint : Step 7

Bring 100 ml whole milk and 250 ml liquid cream to the boil.

Step 8 - ⌛ 2 min.

Pear and chocolate tart with a hint of mint : Step 8

As soon as it comes to the boil, take the pan off the heat and add 200 g dark chocolate in small pieces.

Whisk in gently until the mixture is smooth.

Leave to cool to room temperature.

Step 9 - ⌛ 2 min.

Pear and chocolate tart with a hint of mint : Step 9

Add the egg and vanilla sugar mixture.

Step 10 - ⌛ 2 min.

Pear and chocolate tart with a hint of mint : Step 10

Mix again thoroughly.

Your choclate cream is ready.

Step 11 - ⌛ 2 min.

Pear and chocolate tart with a hint of mint : Step 11

Assembling the tart

Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).

Arrange the pear slices in the tart case.

Step 12 - ⌛ 3 min.

Pear and chocolate tart with a hint of mint : Step 12

Pour the chocolate cream around the pears, but do not fill the centres.

Step 13 - ⌛ 15 min.

Pear and chocolate tart with a hint of mint : Step 13

Bake for 15 minutes, just until the chocolate filling is barely set. It should still be slightly wobbly.

Leave to cool.

Step 14 - ⌛ 3 min.

Pear and chocolate tart with a hint of mint : Step 14

Fill the centres of the pears with mint confectioner's custard.

Step 15 - ⌛ 1 min.

Pear and chocolate tart with a hint of mint : Step 15

Finish with a few toasted flaked almonds scattered over the chocolate filling. Your tart is ready.

Remarks

When you pour in the chocolate cream in Step 12, I advise you to do this through a very fine strainer, to make sure the cream has a smooth surface after its brief baking.

To help the pastry case stay crisp longer, you can use a chablonnage at the end of Step 5, coating the bottom with dark or white chocolate.

Nutritional information

	Proteins	Carbohydrates	Fats	Calories	Energy
Per 100 g	2 g RDI=3 %	24 g RDI=9 %	8 g RDI=11 %	176 kcal RDI=9 %	738 kJ RDI=9 %
Whole recipe	54 g RDI=82 %	710 g RDI=268 %	231 g RDI=317 %	5,133 kcal RDI=257 %	21,489 kJ RDI=257 %