Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.

Preheat the oven to fan oven 160°C/180°C/350°F/Gas 4

Grease a 20cm/8in round, metal flan tin with a loose bottom, generously with butter.

Make the pastry base: weigh the flour and salt into the food processor and pulse to mix. Alternatively weigh it into a mixing bowl and stir to mix.

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.

Add the sugar and pulse or stir to mix.

Finally add the egg yolk and pulse until the mixture just comes together. Alternatively, mix the egg in by hand. Do not over mix.

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.

Wrap the dough in clingfilm and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour.

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.

Use your fingers to press the grated dough into an even, flat layer on the base and up the sides of the tin, making sure it is an even thickness. Prick all over with a fork.

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 all the areas of the tin, e.g. edges are filled with the beans.

Bake in a preheated oven for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, take out of the oven. Carefully lift out the baking parchment and the ceramic beans. Set aside.

Put the pastry flan back in the oven and bake for a further 5 minutes, until very lightly browned. Remove from the oven.

Frangipane: beat the butter with an electric whisk until soft. Add the sugar and salt and beat again until light and fluffy.

Next add the egg and beat again.

Finally, fold in the ground almonds.

Pears: peel the pears and cut into quarters. Remove the core from each quarter.

Now, put it all together: when the pastry base has finished cooking, take it out of the oven and decrease the oven temperature to fan oven 150°C/170°C/325°F/Gas 3.

Put the pear quarters in the flan tin, core side down, and top with the frangipane. Spread the frangipane evenly over the pears.

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.

Leave to cool in the tin for at least 30 minutes before removing it onto a serving plate.

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.