Caramelized Pear Tart

My friend and coworker has a prolific pear tree. I am reaping the benefits. Although the pears took almost a week to ripen after being picked, some great projects have resulted.

From Epicurious. I made the crust the night before and let it refrigerate overnight.

4 large firm-ripe pears (2 pounds total)
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
pastry dough

1. Make your pastry dough
2. Peel and halve pears, then core.
3. Heat butter in a 9- to 10-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat until the butter is no longer foaming, then stir in sugar. 
4. Arrange pears, cut sides UP, in skillet with wide parts at rim of skillet.
5. Sprinkle pears with cinnamon and nutmeg and cook, until sugar turns a deep golden caramel, flipping carefully over for optimal caramelization once, and then back again. (This can take as little as 10 minutes or as much as 25.)
6. Cool pears completely in skillet.
7. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 425°F.
8. Roll out your pastry dough on a lightly floured surface into a 12-inch round and trim to a 9 1/2- to 10 1/2-inch round. 
9. Arrange pastry over caramelized pears, tucking edge around pears inside rim of skillet.
10. Bake tart until pastry is golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Cook on rack 5 minutes.
11. Place a rimmed serving plate (slightly larger than skillet) over skillet and, using pot holders to hold skillet and plate tightly together, flip tart onto plate. Serve tart warm or at room temperature.

How pretty! I wasn't expecting it to look as nice as it did. Yum! The crust was really delicious too.

Variation on Pear Jam: Caramel Pear Butter

I accidentally singed a second batch of pear jam*. Whoops.

But you know what slightly burnt sugar becomes? Caramel. And you know what makes caramel even tastier? Butter.

So I used my immersion blender on the pears and then threw in two tablespoons of butter while it was still hot. The result? Even tastier than the original pear jam! Next time I'll add more butter for a smoother, creamier result.

Gluten-Free Chocolate-Pear Torte

I think the word torte sounds a little pretentious, so I'm just going to call it a very rich cake, ok?

My father has celiac disease. The real version of wheat (gluten) intolerance, not the new-age, hipster, I'm-choosing-not-to-eat-wheat-because-it-clouds-my-aura gluten intolerance. The real deal. So when I saw this recipe*, I thought I'd try it to surprise my dad with a gluten-free version. Too bad I forgot he's out of town for the week...

But we move on. Torte freezes, right?

My substitutions:

I had no dried pears (although I do have some drying), so I used some of yesterday's pear jam, adding a little less sugar since the jam is so sweet.
I didn't have poire williams, so I used plain brandy.
I didn't have quite enough chocolate, so I used what I had (7 oz) plus 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder.
And of course, I used gluten-free baking flour instead of all-purpose.

Going into the oven:

I baked it 10 minutes shorter than the recipe suggests, and it was nice and moist.

I decided to forgo the suggested chocolate glaze, as the comments on Epicurious said the pear flavor was lost. So I left it untopped and gave my guests the option of pear jam, leftover cream cheese frosting, ice cream, or no topping. It went well with the cream cheese frosting*, as well as vanilla ice cream.

The result? The torte is TASTY. And VERY RICH. However, the pear flavor is completely lost, as is the brandy flavor.

My suggestions?
Skip the pears. Use applesauce.
Double the brandy.
The almonds are tasty and good for you. Add more.
Only use 6 ounces of baking chocolate.
The glaze is excessive. Leave it out.

Pear Jam

My sweetie and I have a thing about pear jam. Not that it's particularly important to either of us. But it's been a running joke since about the third date.

Me: I got some cute little Christmas presents from my students today.
JT: Yeah? Like what?
Me: Some candles, stationary, and one kid gave me pear jam. You know, like jam, made out of pears.
JT: Oh is that what pear jam is? Thanks for explaining that. I couldn't have figured it out myself, based on its name.

So while JT is home visiting family for 2 weeks, I am making pear jam.

Pear jam is SUPER easy:

• Cut up about 4 or 5 pears into slices, removing stems and cores.
• Mix them in a bowl with a cup of sugar.
• Put the bowl in the refrigerator overnight. The sugar and pear juice makes a liquid when you let it sit long enough.
• The next day, put half a cup of water in a pot. Add the pear-sugar mix, making sure to get the sugar and juice in there.
• Add cinnamon and nutmeg if you're awesome.Let it bubble for 20-30 minutes on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until pears are soft and mushy. Then take it off the stove.
  
• If you have an immersion blender, use that, otherwise pop it in the blender or food processor. Don't over-process it.
• Put it in a container and pop it in the fridge. Epicurious says you should use it in a week, but I bet it would last at least 2.