Pear & chocolate tart

Pears and chocolate ... what a perfect combination.  Pears are in abundance early autumn and store so well for the colder months. Our chefs are poaching, preserving, making syrups and putting them in robust seasonal salads.  In the Cookery School at Thyme this recipe is a favourite in our 'Instinctive Cook: Seasonal Dinner Parties' class, but it works equally well for afternoon tea. If you don't have time to make your own pastry, a good quality ready-made sheet will suffice, roll it out a little more thinly than it comes in the packet.  However, making pastry is not hard especially with a food processor, and once you make your own you won't want to go back to shop-bought. 

Serves 4 (with leftovers or second helpings!)
Preheated oven 160°c

Ingredients 

For the pastry tart shell:

• All ingredients well chilled

• 250 g plain flour, sifted

• 125 g unsalted butter, diced

• 30 g caster sugar

• 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk

• Zest 1 lemon, finely grated

• ½ tsp vanilla extract

For the pear and chocolate filling:

• 75 g chocolate chopped (70% cocoa)

• 2 small pears

• 1 tbsp Poire William or brandy

• 2 egg yolks

• 200 ml cream

• ¼ vanilla pod

• 50 g caster sugar

Method:  

For the pastry tart shell:

1. Tip the flour, sugar, whole egg, egg yolk, lemon zest, vanilla extract and the butter into a food processor.

2. Switch on the machine until the mixture resembles wet sand, and eventually comes together in a ball.

3. Remove the dough, wrap in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for 30mins.

4. Roll the pastry out to fit an 18cm flan tin with a removable base, and press it into the edges and bottom of the tin.

5. Trim the excess pastry from the edges; prick the base with a fork and place in the fridge for 20mins.

6. Line with parchment and baking beans, blind bake the pastry for 15mins.

7. Remove the beans and the paper and return to the oven for another 5mins.

8. Remove and allow to cool.

For the pear and chocolate filling:

1. Take the tart shell and place the chocolate in the base.

2. Peel, core and slice the pears and arrange in a fan on top of the chocolate and pour the alcohol over the top.

3. Whisk the eggs, cream, sugar and vanilla seeds together, then pour over the pears.

4. Place the tart in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until the custard is set.

5. Allow to rest for 30 minutes before serving.