When I bring or serve a pear frangipane tart for dessert, there is never any leftovers.  The soft and not-too-sweet almond paste together with the cookie-like crust, topped with some fruit (and always served with whipped cream or ice-cream) is a delectable combination! With this pear frangipane tart recipe,  I have reduced the overall sugar in the crust and in the frangipane.  I also don't glaze the top.  Eventhough this results in a "matte" rather than a "glossy" finish, I forego the extra sugar in the glaze.  However, I will add the glaze in the recipe, should you choose to make your topping shiny. It is purely aesthetic with a hint of sweetness.

The wonderful thing about this recipe is you can make this tart either as a round tart, a rectangular tart or in individual ramekins. You can also choose fruits depending on what's in season, it's so versatile.

Tips for making pear frangipane tart.

This recipe is comprised of 3 components.  A sweet pastry crust, an almond frangipane filling and a topping with or without glaze. I explain it this way so that you will begin to realize that once you master a few crusts, a few fillings and use different types of fruits as toppings, you can start switching the various combinations, you can make a multitude of your own unique creations successfully!

See my sweet pastry crust post for  and tips

See my frangipane post for tips

Fresh Fruit Toppings.

The tart works better with fruits that do not bleed.  When using fruit that oxidizes, turns brown after cutting, submerge the fruit in a bowl of water with a teaspoon of lemon juice.  The lemon juice has citric acid that slows down the oxidation.  The fruits used should be somewhat firm rather than too ripe.  Fruits that are too ripe are hard to work with and tend to not handle the heat as well. 

Make sure you dry the fruit well with a paper towel before applying to the tart.

Less fruit can be used by spreading it flat on the tart.  If you want more fruit on the tart, place the fruit on it's side.  This will take longer to bake but you'll have a fruitier tart!

Baking.

When pre-baking the sweet pastry crust, do not overbake and overbrown but make sure the bottom of the crust is cooked.  The crust will be baked again with the frangipane which will continue to brown the edges of the crust.

When baking with the frangipane, after 20 minutes, check the tart.  If there are some areas that seem uncooked as a result of excess moisture pooling in that area, use a clean paper towel and dab the liquid. This will assist in the browning process.  The baking may take up to 45 minutes depending on the amount of fruit on the tart.  

Glaze

There are different ways of making fruit glazes from mixing juice with water and cornstarch to a very simple and fail-proof way which I usually use.  I use strawberry jelly or apricot jam, depending on the topping that I want to glaze.  Heat  the jelly in a microwave with a bit of water until it melts and then lightly brush it onto the fruit.  You may have to microwave the glaze several times before you are completely done coating your tart as the jelly does start to thicken when cooled.

Let me know what tart combinations you've come up with in the comment section!