Pear Almondine

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A light and delicious almond frangipane sponge, with hints of vanilla, wrapped around pear halves, glazed with syrup made from their own juices and scattered with toasted almonds. This wonderful dessert/cake comes together in less than 10 minutes and is made from store cupboard ingredients. Just whip together, pop it in the oven for around half an hour and voila! It looks deceptively impressive and is as ideal for a smart supper with some ice cream or cream, as it is for a casual family meal when you want to finish with a quick and easy treat. Alternatively, have some with your morning coffee or afternoon tea – just delicious.

I saw Raymond Blanc make this on television recently, whilst promoting his new book, Simply Raymond. This recipe is almost identical – the only change is to use my basic frangipane recipe, which is virtually the same, but I use a large egg and he a medium egg, which has a slight impact on the quantities of the other ingredients. Also, I would typically use a small quantity of plain/all-purpose flour in my frangipane, whereas Raymond uses cornflour – perfect if you are looking for a gluten free option.

What really makes this a quick dish though, is that it uses tinned pears. No peeling, no poaching, just open the tin, strain, (reserving the juice or syrup), dab them dry and you are goo to go. If it is good enough for Raymond, it is, most certainly, good enough for me!

There are many Pear and Almond Tart recipes, almost identical to this, but with a sweet shortcrust pastry base. I love it served like this as well, but not making the pastry, really makes this recipe a lot quicker and fuss free – tart recipe coming soon though as well!

How to make Pear Almondine

Collect your ingredients together:

Frangipane ingredients:

• unsalted butter, at room temperature
• caster sugar
• large free-range egg
• ground almonds/almond meal
• plain/all-purpose flour or cornflour, if you prefer gluten free
• almond extract
• vanilla extract
• fine salt

Plus:

• tin of pears
• flaked almonds

Make the frangipane:

1. Ensure the butter is at room temperature and soft enough to beat. Weigh all the ingredients into a bowl.
2. Beat with an electric whisk for about 1 minute, or until combined.

NB  If your butter is not soft, beat first, before adding the remaining ingredients, to ensure it is light and soft. For further details on softening butter, see Recipe Notes, below

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Bring it all together:

1. Drain the pears – but save the juice – and dab them dry with kitchen paper.
2. Line and grease the base and sides of a round 20cm/8 inch cake tin.
3. Fill with the frangipane and spread evenly.
4. Top with the pear halves, cut side down.
5. Scatter some flaked almonds around the edge of the almondine and in the centre.
6. Bake in the centre of a pre-heated oven until cooked – around 35 – 40 minutes. It is cooked when the centre feels springy when lightly touched with your finger and no imprint remains.

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Make the pear syrup:

1. As the almondine cooks, prepare the pear syrup. Strain the pear juice or syrup from the tin into a saucepan.
2. Boil briskly over a moderately high heat until only about 2 tablespoons remain and it has reduced to a syrup.
3. When you take the almondine out of the oven, brush the pears with the pear syrup.
4. Leave the almondine in the tin for 10 minutes to cool slightly before removing and transferring to a serving plate and sieving some icing sugar over the area with the flaked almonds.
5. Delicious served as is with a cup of tea or for dessert with some cream or ice cream.

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Made this recipe?

If you make this recipe, do please tag me on instagram @daffodil_kitchen. You could also leave a comment in the box directly below the recipe.