Pear and Almond Flan – Flan di Pere e Mandorle

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With a crispy, buttery, homemade, sweet pastry base, this fabulous, classic flan is topped with fresh, juicy sweet, fresh pears and finished with a layer of moist, nutty, light frangipane. I normally serve this flan for dessert, slightly warmed or at room temperature, with cream, ice cream or custard. However, this delightful tart is also wonderful served simply with a cup of tea or coffee.

Whilst this Pear and Almond Flan may not be the prettiest, what it lacks in looks, it more than delivers in flavour. However, when cooked, you can sprinkle it with icing sugar if you like, or even scatter over some flaked almonds before you bake it. I think it looks best served in wedges, perhaps adorned with cream or ice cream.

Homemade sweet pastry

Hands up, I’m really not a massive fan of making pastry, all the faffing around trying to keep it cool, rolling it out and fitting inside a baking tin, only for it to fall apart anyway!! It doesn’t even shrink when you blind bake it – it is amazing! If this sounds familiar, you are going to love this recipe. The pastry is made in a food processor, and after an hour in the fridge, you simply grate the cold pastry straight into the baking tin. It really is the easiest pastry base to make, but it yields the most delicious, buttery, sweet, short pastry.

Where is this recipe from?

I have been making this incredible Pear and Almond Tart recipe for years. It is from the blue River Cafe Cookbook. I haven’t changed the recipe at all, although I have scaled it down to make a tart which serves 4 – 6. There are so many wonderful recipes in the book, which I constantly return to, time and time again. If you don’t own a copy, I can’t recommend it enough.

Use the pastry and frangipane to make this festive favourite:

I used the this pastry and frangipane recipe to create this amazing, festive Frangipane Mincemeat and Apple Slice. See here for details.

How to make this Pear and Almond Flan

Collect all your ingredients together:

For the pastry –

• plain/all-purpose flour
• fine salt
• cold unsalted butter, in cubes
• icing sugar
• egg yolk

Filling –

• unsalted butter, at room temperature
• caster sugar
• fine salt
• ground almonds
• egg
• fresh, ripe pears, peeled, cored and quartered

How to make this fabulous tart:

Make the pastry base –

1. Weigh the flour and salt into the food processor and pulse to mix. Alternatively weigh it into a mixing bowl and stir to mix.
2. Add the cold, cubed butter and either using the pulse function on your food processor or using your fingertips, rub it into the flour until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.
3. Add the sugar and pulse or stir to mix.
4. Finally add the egg yolk and pulse until the mixture just comes together. Alternatively, mix the egg in by hand. Do not over mix.
5. Tip the mixture out of the food processor or mixing bowl and push, rather than knead, gently with your hands to bring the dough together. Kneading stretches the gluten in the flour and will make your pastry tough, so handle it as little as possible.
6. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour.
7. After one hour, take the pastry out of the fridge and, using a coarse grater, grate it directly into a greased 20cm/8in round baking tin.
8. Use your fingers to press the grated dough into an even, flat layer on the base and sides of the tin, making sure it is an even thickness. Prick all over with a fork.
9. Cut a piece of baking parchment larger than the flan tin, scrunch it up, flatten it out again and place inside the flan tin on top of the pastry. Tip ceramic baking beans into the paper, sufficient to fill the tin. Make sure they are spread evenly in the tin and all the areas of the tin, e.g. edges are filled with the beans.
10. Bake in a preheated oven for 15 minutes.
11. After 15 minutes, take out of the oven. Carefully lift out the baking parchment and the ceramic beans. Set aside.
12. Put the pastry flan back in the oven and bake for a further 5 minutes, until very lightly browned. Remove from the oven.

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As the base cooks, prepare the frangipane and pears –

1. Frangipane: beat the butter with an electric whisk until soft. Add the sugar and salt and beat again until light and fluffy.
2. Next add the egg and beat again.
3. Finally, fold in the ground almonds.
4. Pears: peel the pears and cut into quarters. Remove the core from each quarter.
5. Now, put it all together: when the pastry base has finished cooking, take it out of the oven and decrease the oven temperature.
6. Put the pear quarters in the flan tin, core side down, and top with the frangipane. Spread the frangipane evenly over the pears.
7. Bake: in the centre of a pre-heated oven for 35 minutes. After 35 minutes, cover loosely with foil and cook for a further 15 – 25 minutes, or until cooked. It is cooked when the centre feels springy when lightly touched with your finger and no imprint remains.
8. Leave to cool in the tin for at least 30 minutes before removing it onto a serving plate.
9. Serve: for dessert, slightly warmed or at room temperature, with cream or ice cream. It is also wonderful served simply with a cup of tea or coffee.

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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.