Oh Such a Pearfect Day…

…I’m glad I spent it with yoooou

My friend and I have been busy utilising the pear crop from her back garden in Highbury, making tarts and jams – yum! I’ve never been a keen pear fan, as pretty as they are they just don’t do anything for me. However this soon changed when I was introduced to the joys of a homemade pear tart covered in squidgy caramel. Oooh it was a whole new form of torture waiting for the caramel to cool enough so that we could shove it in our mouths!

Pear Tart Recipe (adapted from Jamie Oliver)

Ingreedies:

3 pears, peeled & cored and rubbed in lemon juice

100g caster sugar

2 capfuls of vanilla essence

20g butter

1 teaspoon ground ginger

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 tube of ready made puff pastry (see, it’s easy!)

Put the sugar, vanilla and 100ml water into a frying pan and bring to the boil. Simmer until it turns a nice browny colour and try not to stir it toooo much. It should look a little like this.

Then add the pears – sliced lengthways makes them look a little jazzier i reckon. Add the butter and swish it all around until all the pears have had a go in the caramel. Take off the heat and sprinkle over the ginger and cinnamon.

Roll out the pastry and cut out a circle the same size as the pan and lay it on top of the pears, and tuck in the corners – as if you were putting the little pears into bed.

Put the pan in the oven for about 20-25 minutes until the pastry browns nicely and then take out and leave to cool (it’s worth the wait as when it cools the caramel goes nice and gooey – short wait but better taste!). It should look like this.

Then grab a plate and place it over the pan and flip it over carefully….ta da!!!

A delicious pear tart in no time at all – and  all your friends will be dazzled by your culinary genius.

This is assuming you have left them any.