Almond & Pear Tart

I've rolled this dessert out a number of times over the last few months, and it's always gone down a treat. A few people have asked for the recipe so here it is. Enjoy!

Ingredients

  Frozen Sweet Shortcrust Pastry
 50g Soft unsalted butter
 100g castor sugar
  100g Ground Almonds (or Almond Meal)
  2 Eggs
  1 Tablespoon Brandy (or Rum)
  1 Teaspoon Almond extract
  1 Tin of Pear Halves –drained


Method

Defrost pastry and line a 25cm tart tin with a removable base.

Use a fork to prick the base of the pastry.

Refrigerate for 30 minutes (or as long as it take you to make the batter)

Place the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and mix until the butter is light and fluffy. I’ve done this in the large mixer and with a little hand electric beaters. The result is the same.

Stir in the ground almonds. Add the eggs, rum and almond extract and mix to combine.

Pat the drained pear halves dry. You can slice then or cut them into quarters depending on how you want to decorate the tart.

Remove the pastry from the fridge. Pour the batter into the pastry case. Spread the batter evenly over the pastry case. Arrange pears in a circle on top of the batter.

Bake in a moderate oven (160 C) for 30-40 minutes.

The tart is ready when it has a nice golden colour.
Serve warm from the oven or at room temperature.



Tips & Traps for young players

The first few times I made this I sliced the pears thinly and fanned them out in a circle. It looked great but was very fiddly and not really worth the extra effort.

Don’t be tempted to overcook the tart. Once it has a nice golden colour it’s done, even if the batter still looks a bit shiny or soft.

Decorate with toasted almond slivers if you want to be fancy

Serve with ice cream or cream.

The things we do....

One of the first things you learn when you own a farm is that everything is large scale. Even small farms require large scale everything. I don't know why this still surprises me but it does. 

So when Trent mentioned that winter was a good time to "improve" the paddocks and he was going to get some fertiliser delivered I didn't bat an eyelid. Sure whatever I said......after all these years I should pay more attention.

Really?

An entire truck load of chook poo?

Delivered on the same weekend we had friends visiting from Sydney! 

Really Trent?

Oh shit. Literally. 

The cow's weren't bothered but the truck in the paddock or the unloading of the poo, but they soon headed for the hills. Let me tell you when the cows are offended by the smell...it's bad.

Is Trent waving to me or is he signalling to me that he's about to pass from the smell?

I shouldn't have worried about our friends. Natural order was reached when the boys went and played with the Tonka trucks and the ladies opened a bottle wine. Inside with the windows closed.

Great times with old friends...

This is what happens when great friends get together for a weekend! A few bottles wine, a few laughs and LOADS of amazing food. Given the amount of laughter coming from the kitchen I think the boys were getting worried that dinner might not actually happen....

Entree

Home made hummus, cheese & dips.

Main

Marinated lamb shoulder, slow cooked in the wood fired oven for 4 hours

Garlic Mash "al la Thermomix"

Assorted greens fresh from my garden

Bread baked in the wood fired oven.

Dessert

Almond & Pear Tart

Assorted Amazing Wine-lot's of it!!

Sunday Morning was crisp & clear....alas

 the guest were not!

Bonfire Night

We've come a long way since our first bonfire night! To celebrate the completion of our shed we invited a few friends up for a BBQ & bonfire. After months of camping out in the shipping container the idea of a warm dry shed to sleep in seemed like a 5 star hotel.

8 years, 2 villa's and a house later the same group of friends still come & celebrate with us.

The year the weather was simply perfect.

Ummmm Trent, mate is your fire fighting equipment handy?

Hello Winter

The fires we have in winter are truly of of the greatest joys about owning a farm. We have both outside & inside fires. I can't say cutting & collecting fire wood is my favourite job, but I love the end result. There is something so comforting about starring into the flames after a long day.

 The outside fire pit always draws a crowd.

Turn the clocks back & light the fire...

Turning the clocks back an hour marks the end of daylight savings. Summer is behind us, the day's are shorter, and there is a chill in the evening air. While I start dreaming about slow cooked casseroles and thick hearty soups, Trent's mind is buzzing with a very different kind of excitement. It's finally "burning off" season. Show me a man that doesn't love a good fire.

 

Keeping fire trails clear and the stock piling of fallen trees and branches is a never ending process on the farm.  

We've had an enormous mount of rain over the last few month. Great for growing grass, and keeping dam's and water tanks topped up. Not so good to burn  soggy wood piles.

His & Hers Quad Bikes