Ginger Pear Tart

Hello all– My young moms group came last night–Big Fun– laughing and talking and praying and eating.  It’s just for dessert, but it’s pretty much a given that the dessert will be one that requires a mound of whipped cream along side of it.  So this week it was this Ginger Pear Tart.  I’m eating a leftover piece right this minute while I’m writing to you all… tender and sweet.

GINGER PEAR TART

Crust:
1 cup flour
3 tab. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter
1 egg yolk
Mix the flour, sugar and salt.  Then cut in the butter with a pastry blender (or food processor) until you have coarse crumbs.  Add in the egg yolk and continue to blend until it’s a ball of pastry.  Gently press it into a 10″ tart pan or pie dish.

Filling:
3 large pears, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 egg
3 tab. flour
3 tab. white sugar
3 tab. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/3 cup sliced almonds

I like the pears just in half, cut out the core and make nice big slices.  Lay them in a nice pattern over the pastry in the tart pan.  Then blend together the cream and the egg.  drizzle it over the pears.  Stir together the flour, sugars and ginger.  Sprinkle this over the pears as well.  Then top it all with the almonds.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes until the crust is nicely browned and the pears are tender when you stick in a sharp knife.

Whipped cream:
1 1/2 cups whipping cream*
2 tsp. powdered sugar
1 tsp. instant vanilla pudding mix (to stabilize the cream)

Serve this along side the warm tart.  There’s never too much whipped cream.

*Buy a pint of whipping cream, this will give you just enough for the fillling cream and the whipped cream.