The Autumn air grows chilly and cold while fruits and nuts thud on the ground, falling from trees and bushes, ripe for harvest. It’s the perfect time to turn to warming, comforting dishes that make use of all that nature’s seasonal larder has to offer; berries, pears, apples and nuts, available in rich abundance.
Belvoir Fruit Farms who make all their Pressés and Cordials with wholly natural ingredients; freshly pressed fruits and gently infused flowers and spices has worked with leading chefs including 2015 Great British Bake Off Finalist, Ian Cumming to produce a quartet of mouth-watering Autumnal recipes to make the most of this bountiful season.
Ingredients
Pastry
- 120g unsalted butter (room temp)
- 70g icing sugar
- 25g ground almonds
- pinch of salt
- 1 large egg
- 220g plain flour
- 1tsp ground ginger
Pears
- 3 reasonably firm conference pears
- 200ml Belvoir Raspberry & Lemon Cordial
Frangipane
- 75g raspberry jam
- 140g unsalted butter
- 2 large eggs
- 120g caster sugar
- pinch of salt
- 140g ground almonds
- 1tsp almond extract
- 50ml Belvoir Raspberry & Lemon Cordial
- 20g flaked almonds
Method
- Beat the butter with a wooden spoon until soft. Beat in the icing sugar until it is fully incorporated.
- Beat in the salt and ground almonds until they are also incorporated.
- Beat in the egg. It won’t mix in much but don’t worry!
- Mix in the flour and the ginger and bring together. Briefly knead before wrapping in a bag or cling film and chilling in the fridge.
- Peel the pears and put them in a small saucepan. Pour in 200ml cordial and enough water to cover the pears. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 5 minutes or until reasonably tender.
- Drain the liquid from the pears into a large pan and bring it to a boil. Reduce this liquid to about ¼ of its original volume. It should be a sticky syrup once it has cooled. Be careful not to overcook it and turn it into caramel.
- Meanwhile lightly flour a worktop and roll the pastry into a circle approx 35cm in diameter. Carefully lift it and drape it over a large loose-bottomed tart tin (approx 11 inches.) Trim the edges and then chill in fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 200C.
- Cover pastry with baking parchment and then fill with baking beans or rice. Bake for about 5 minutes before carefully removing and then baking for another 5 minutes. The pastry should be just turning golden. Remove and allow to cool.
- Reduce oven to 180C.
- Cover base of pastry with raspberry jam.
- Start on the frangipane. Beat the butter with the sugar and salt until light and fluffy, then beat in the eggs one at a time along with the almond extract. Fold in the ground almonds. Finally fold in the cordial until it is a soft, dropping consistency.
- Dot the mixture over the jam and then smooth it out until the whole tart is covered.
- Meanwhile chop the pears as you like. They will be quite soft so treat them carefully. Halve them and then core them. You can then either chop the halves into 3 long strips and arrange them like spokes on a wheel or cut across them and lay them out from the centre.
- Scatter the flaked almonds on top.
- Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes or until a rich golden colour.
- Allow to cool for a few minutes.
- Briefly warm the reduced syrup from the pears so it isn’t too thick. Using a pastry brush carefully brush the top of the tart.
Cook’s tip: If you prefer you can make the pastry in a food processor: whizz the butter, sugar, almonds, salt, flour and ginger together until they are like crumbs. Add the egg and pulse until the forms a ball. Chill in the fridge.
Let’s embrace what the Autumn provides and give these recipes a go. For more mouth-watering recipes from Ian Cumming and other well-loved chefs, visit www.belvoirfruitfarms.co.uk.
