The Catalan TableIngredients
Servings:
4
Ingredients
- 3 conference pears, large, not too ripe
- 1 literbottled water
- 500 gwhite sugar
- 1 lemon (lemon juice)
- 1 vanilla pod
- 1 golden syrup (L) - refrigerator cold
- 250 gall-purpose flour (or pastry) - cold from the fridge
- 150 gcold refrigerator butter
- 95 gicing sugar or regular white sugar (preferably icing sugar) - refrigerator cold
- 30 galmond flour - cold from the refrigerator
- salt
- 1 vanilla extract
- RAW CHICKPEAS per fer pes.
- 2 granulated cornmeal (L) - at room temperature
- 140 galmond powder - at room temperature
- 110 gbutter - at room temperature
- 110 gwhite sugar - at room temperature
- 16 mlCointreau, Calvados, etc.
- For the final finish
Ingredients
- 120 gsliced almond
Nutritional Information
Per Serving (Approx.)
Calories
1834 kcal
Protein
16 g
Fat
71 g
Carbohydrates
266 g
Disclaimer: These values are estimates based on ingredient types and may not be precise.
Step-by-step Guide
Preparation
- Fill a medium pot with water, add the sugar, lemon juice, and the vanilla bean sliced in half. Place the pot over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar.
- Meanwhile, peel the pears, removing only the skin but keeping them whole with the stem intact. Set them aside in a bowl until the water boils.
- When the water starts boiling, carefully add the whole pears to the pot and reduce the heat to medium. The liquid should continue to boil gently without evaporating too quickly.
- Cook the pears for 30-40 minutes. The cooking time will depend on the degree of ripeness; they should be tender yet firm, without falling apart. Turn them occasionally to ensure even cooking.
- Turn off the heat and let the pears marinate at room temperature overnight in the pot with the syrup. To prevent them from drying out, cover the pears with parchment paper gently pressed against them. The sablée pastry can be prepared the day before as well.
- Sift the flour into a large bowl to avoid lumps and ensure a smooth texture.
- The pâte sablée should not be kneaded like bread. We must mix the ingredients with pinches, so they combine but maintain a crumbly texture. This will prevent gluten development.
- First, mix the flour with the almond flour and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Add the cold butter, cut into small cubes. Use a dough scraper to cut the butter into small pieces while mixing it with the flour, keeping small visible chunks. Note: to avoid warming the butter with your hands, it's better to do this with a spatula. If using a machine, use the paddle attachment and mix just until combined.
- Add the sugar, the lightly beaten whole egg, and the vanilla extract. Continue pinching the flour with the other ingredients until they are integrated, always maintaining a crumbly dough appearance. Do not overwork the dough, as we don't want to develop the gluten.
- When the dough is well crumbled, gather the pieces to form a ball, but without pressing too hard or compacting it. If the dough doesn't come together due to lack of moisture, lightly dampen your fingers to gently press it together, but do not add water directly.
- Proceed to laminate the dough by rolling and flattening it in three different directions. Fold it without compressing, then roll it again in three different directions. Repeat this process for a third time. If the dough sticks to the table or hands, it indicates that the butter has warmed; in this case, refrigerate the dough for a while before continuing.
- Once the dough is laminated, form a ball without compacting it, pressing only gently. Lightly dust it with flour, wrap in plastic wrap, and let the ball rest in the fridge for at least 2 hours. Alternatively, leave it overnight until the next day for better results.
Bake the Dough Blind the Next Day
- If the dough has been in the fridge for 2 hours, it is ready to work with. However, if left overnight, remove it from the fridge and allow it to temper for half an hour before working with it.
- Grease the mold with melted butter. Line the mold with parchment paper covering the entire width, allowing the paper to overhang on both ends. Apply melted butter over the paper and lightly dust with flour.
- If you do not place a sheet of parchment paper that spans the entire mold and overhangs on both sides, unmolding the cake could cause it to break and be difficult to remove. Do it this way so you can pull on the overhanging parchment paper, guiding the movement.
- After this time, roll out the dough with a rolling pin. It is important for it to be cold; otherwise, it will crumble and break when trying to roll it out. Placing the dough between two sheets of parchment paper helps prevent it from sticking to the rolling pin. If it sticks or breaks, return the dough sheet to the fridge for a while. Roll it out until you have a sheet about 3 mm thick.
- Transfer the dough onto the mold and adapt it to the base and sides, pressing lightly to fit it well.
- Cut the dough to a size slightly larger than the mold. Adapt it to the mold, and to avoid making holes with your fingers or warming it up, do this with a dough ball made from the leftover dough.
- To transfer the dough to the mold, you can flour the dough's surface and roll it up. You can also place the mold upside down on the dough, and carefully, place one hand under the parchment paper beneath the dough while holding the mold with the other hand, and turn the set over.
- Run the dull side of a knife along the edge of the mold to remove the excess dough.
- Leave the mold in the refrigerator for 30-40 minutes before baking. It's important that it is very cold when we bake it.
- Preheat the oven to 175 ºC, with heat from top and bottom, during these 40 minutes while we wait for the mold to cool.
- This step is to recall the technique used in Cerdanya, as described in step 5.
- Before baking: The dough must bake with a weight on top so that it doesn't rise.
- Prick the dough in several places with a fork to prevent it from puffing up.
- Place a piece of parchment paper over the dough, covering the sides as well.
- Fill the mold with dry chickpeas, about 750 grams to add weight. If you have a baking sheet that fits the width of the mold bottom, you can use it as well.
- Bake at 175°C for about 15-20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and take out the weight (the chickpeas).
- Put the dough back in the oven and leave it for another 5 minutes, now without the weight, to dry well.
- Remove the dough from the oven and let it cool completely before proceeding to the next step.
- You can bake it the day before to have it ready for the next day.
Prepare the Almond Cream
- In a bowl, beat the room temperature softened butter with the sugar using electric beaters until you obtain a smooth and aerated mixture, approximately for 5 minutes.
- Next, add the eggs one at a time. Stir constantly with the beaters after each egg, ensuring the first egg is fully incorporated before adding the next.
- Add the almond flour to the mixture and gently stir with a spatula until completely incorporated, without lumps.
- Finally, add the liqueur of your choice and stir once more to ensure it fully integrates. Reserve the almond cream in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Cutting the Pears in Syrup
- Carefully remove the pears from the syrup. Attention: reserve the syrup for later use.
- Slice the pears in half lengthwise and use a melon baller or a knife to remove the core and seeds.
- Make crosswise cuts in each pear half, ensuring the cuts don't completely separate the pears. This step prevents them from splitting during baking. Reserve the pears.
- Place a portion of the reserved syrup in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Let it thicken slightly, without allowing it to caramelize, for about 5-10 minutes, so that you can finally glaze the tart and give it a shiny appearance. If the syrup is too liquid, it may soak the tart.
Fill the sablée tart with almond cream
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC with top and bottom heat. If it was set to 175ºC, increase it to 180ºC.
- Once the base is cool, fill it with the almond cream evenly.
- Arrange the pear halves on top of the almond cream in a star shape. Place them gently without burying them into the cream, as the cream may rise during baking and cover them.
- Sprinkle sliced almonds over the almond cream, between the pears, to distribute them evenly.
- Bake the tart at 180ºC for 40-45 minutes, until the cream is well golden and cooked.
- In Sants, with 45 minutes of baking, it turned out well; adjust according to your oven if necessary.
- Remove from the oven and let it temper for 5 minutes before handling.
- Brush the pears and sliced almonds with the syrup to give them shine, and allow the tart to cool completely before serving.
Recommendations & Tricks
- Before starting, ensure that all the ingredients for the pâte sablée are well chilled. Store the flour, almond flour, and sugar in the refrigerator the night before. The butter should be used directly from the fridge to achieve perfect texture.
- Choose large conference pears that are firm to the touch, not overripe, to ensure even cooking and optimal texture.
- Prepare the syrup by gently heating 1 liter of bottled water with 500 grams of white sugar. Stir until the sugar completely dissolves. Add the lemon juice and the vanilla bean, split in half to release the seeds.
- Once the syrup is prepared, peel the pears, cut them in half, and remove the core. Immediately submerge them in the syrup to prevent oxidation.
- Cook the pears over low heat for about 15-20 minutes, or until they are tender but still maintain their shape. Allow them to cool to room temperature in the liquid to absorb all the flavor.