Mulled Wine Pear Tartlets

Wonderfully boozy and steeped in festive flavours, this elegant take on poached pears from Le Cordon Bleu cookery school is sure to wow guests as the finale to a dinner party.

Makes 2

INGREDIENTS

Buckwheat cocoa pastry

• 10 g buckwheat flour
• 11 g plain flour
• 3 g cocoa powder
• 7 g icing sugar
• 3 g ground almonds
• 10 g butter
• Pinch of salt
• 3 g water
• 0.3 g vanilla paste
• 3 g butter (to line rings)

Almond cream

• 15 g butter, softened
• 15 g caster sugar
• 12 g egg (whisk before using;measure out 12 g)
• 15 g ground almonds
• 4 g plain flour

Red wine poached pears

• 3 pears
• Zest and juice ½ orange
• 1 star anise
• 1 clove
• ½ cinnamon stick
• 50 g caster sugar
• 50 g water
• 115 g red wine

Almond clusters

• 8 g water
• 8 g caster sugar
• 17 g flaked almonds

METHOD

1. Buckwheat cocoa pastry: Sieve together the dry ingredients then rub in the butter to form a sandy texture. Add the liquids and work to form a paste.
2. Place dough between two sheets of baking paper. Roll out the dough to no more than 2mm thick. Chill well. Use soft butter to brush outside of the tartlet tin. Using an 12cm cooking cutter, cut out discs of pastry and use to drape over four 8cm fluted tartlet tins. Chill again. Dock the base of the tartlet using a fork. Bake at 180°C for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown.
3. Almond cream: In a bowl cream together the butter and caster sugar until smooth and pale in colour. Gradually add in the eggs, in stages, blend well. Sieve together the almonds and the flour and stir in to form a smooth paste. Pipe into each of the baked pastry cases. Bake for a further 8-10minutes at 160°C until a skewer comes out cleanly. Allow to cool.
4. Poached pears: Prepare the pears by peeling and coring.
Remove the rind from the orange using a vegetable peeler. Meanwhile, in a saucepan heat together caster sugar, water, cinnamon stick, clove and star anise, orange peel and red wine to simmering. Add in the pears and poach on a low heat until tender. Remove the pears from the syrup and continue to reduce the syrup until a thick coating consistency is achieved. Use to coat pears before plating and as a sauce.
5. Almond clusters: In a medium pan, bring water and sugar to the boil. Add the almonds and combine well. Tip out onto a silicone paper lined baking tray. Bake in the oven at 175°C for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool before use.
6. Assembly: Cut a poached pear in half. Slice each half thinly and arrange on top of the baked almond tart (each tart will need ½ of a sliced pear). Trim the whole pear so it sits straight and coat with reduced wine. Place in the centre of each pear topped tartlet. Place each of the tarts onto the serving plate, scatter a few of the almond clusters around the tartlet and serve with additional reduced wine sauce.

Lead photo credit : Mulled wine poached pear tartlets