Pear, Honey and Almond Tart

January 11, 2023

Here's a quick and easy dessert recipe that's simple to make and absolutely yummy! After all the cooking you've probably doing over the Christmas and New Year holidays, we thought this would be a perfect dessert recipe for these cold January evenings when you need to rustle something up without too much fuss. It uses pre-made puff pastry, a couple of pears that you might have left in your fruit bowl and a couple of tablespoons of honey. Maybe the best thing about this recipe is that it leaves very little mess to clean up afterwards other than the baking tray and a spoon or two.

To make this pear, honey and almond tart you will need:

2 tbsp of Original Just Bee Honey
One 320g roll of ready to use puff pastry
1 tbsp of caster sugar
2 tbsp of ground almonds
30g butter
2 ripe pears
30g flaked almonds

A baking sheet or tray

Time to make and bake: Less than 40 minutes. Around 6- 8 servings.

Step One: In advance.

Take the pastry roll out of the fridge now to allow it to come up to room temperature, just leave it in the packaging on the side. It will need around 10 minutes out of the fridge to warm up. You can also use this time to grab the other ingredients from the cupboard and weigh them out ready to go!

Step Two: Get the oven on!

Preheat the oven to Gas mark 6 or 200c (180c for a fan assisted oven). As this is a quick to make dessert I would recommend putting the oven on a few minutes before starting the next step.

Step Three: Prepare the pastry.

Remove the pastry from its packaging and roll it out onto the tray. Trim the end of the included baking paper if needed, then using a blunt knife or something similar, lightly mark a margin around the edge around 3-4cm. This is the area we'll be leaving without filling to create a puff pastry edge to the tart.

Step Four: The bottom layer.

Leaving the outside margin clear of ingredients as best you can, sprinkle a tablespoon of caster sugar over the pastry followed by two tablespoons of ground almonds. Try to get the ingredients as even as possible but don't worry too much.

Step Five: Add the butter.

Cut the butter into small chunks (roughly 1cm cubes) and dot around evenly over the almonds and caster sugar.

Step Six: Prepare the pear!

Remove the skin and core of the pears then slice them into thin slices with a sharp knife. Then lay them on top of the other ingredients, again leaving the outside margin. There should be enough to at least overlap them or, if you've sliced them thin enough, create a couple of layers. Either way just keep going until you've used all the pear slices. Again don't worry too much, if you have the odd little gap it really won't matter.

Step Seven: The finishing touches.

Sprinkle the flaked almonds over the top of the pears and then drizzle over 2 tablespoons of honey. The honey will both soak into the pears and create honey toasted almonds on top while in the oven!

Step Eight: Pop it in the oven!

Bake in the middle of the oven for around 20-25 minutes. From 15 minutes onwards keep an eye on your tart. We want the pastry golden and puffy and the honey covered flakes of almonds on top the tart should be starting to brown. If any of the edges or corners of the pastry start to look over cooked, then take it out.

Allow to cool a little for a few minutes, then cut into however many servings you require. The tart can enjoyed on its own or with a little cream or custard.

Ideas and alternatives.

Alternatively you can use apples instead of pears if that's what you have or prefer. You could also add a teaspoon of cinnamon or ginger into the bottom layer of ground almonds if you'd like to add a little spice to the tart.

If you like sultanas or raisins, for some extra fruitiness sprinkle a small handful over your tart before layering the pear on top, this will stop them getting burnt and keep them gooey and chewy while baking.

We've used our Just Bee Original honey in this recipe, but feel free to experiment with any of our flavoured honeys, such as Valencia Orange or Lemon and Ginger which would both work great in this recipe.

While almond and pear is a classic combination, if you have any other unsalted nuts (or mixed nuts) left over from Christmas you could use those instead. Smash them up in a bag with a rolling pin and use the smaller pieces instead of the ground almonds and the larger chunks as a replacement for the almond flakes!

If you have any tart left over, you can keep it in the fridge and enjoy it cold for up to a few days later.