The sophisticated combination of honey mead, almond frangipane and silky smooth pears make this a memorable holiday or winter dessert. Don’t be put off by the long list of ingredients and the directions. Most everything can be made ahead of time, and the crust is very forgiving to work with. Mead comes in various sweetness, from dry, semi-sweet and sweet. I use a sweet, dessert-like wine for this recipe, so if you can only find semi-sweet or dry mead, you might have to up the honey or sugar. The initial poaching liquid should be sweet like apple juice, and any leftover liquid can be saved in the fridge and used over ice cream, for cocktails or as a glaze over cakes. Make sure to poach the pears overnight in a liquid for maximum flavor.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 30 minutesminutes
Cook Time 45 minutesminutes
Total Time 1 hourhour15 minutesminutes
Servings 8
Calories 670kcal
Author Irvin
Ingredients
Ingredients
Poached pears
2poundsripe by firm pears (Bosc or Anjou)about 5 medium
2cupssweet mead
1/2cupwater
1/4cupgranulated white sugar50 g
2tablespoonshoney
1cinnamon stick
Crust
2 1/2cupsall-purpose flour350 g
1/4cupgranulated white sugar50 g
1/4teaspoonkosher salt
1cupcold unsalted butter225 g or 2 sticks
2large egg yolks
1/2cupcold waterplus 1 tablespoon if needed
Frangipane filling
4tablespoonsunsalted butter, at room temperature57 g or 1/2 stick
1/4cupgranulated white sugar50 g
1large egg
1teaspoonvanilla extract
1/4teaspoonalmond extract
1/4teaspoonkosher salt
1cupalmond meal105 g
2tablespoonspear poaching liquid
To Finish
1large egg yolk
1tablespooncold water
2tablespoongranulated white sugar
Instructions
Make the poached pears by first peeling the pears, slicing them in half, then using a melon baller or small spoon to scoop out the seeds. Place pear halves in a medium saucepan and add the remaining ingredients. Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce heat to a lower simmer and poach pears until a knife pierces the pears easily, about 10-15 minutes. Let cool to room temperature, remove cinnamon stick and discard it, then transfer pears and liquid to a glass or ceramic bowl and cover. Refrigerate overnight or up to 3 days.
Make the crust by combining the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Stir vigorously with a balloon whisk until ingredients are evenly distributed. Cut the butter into 1/2-inch chunks and sprinkle over dry ingredients. Using your fingers and hands, toss the butter in the dry ingredients to coat, then smash into thin slivers, breaking them up as you go. Once they’ve been broken into pieces about the size of peas, add the egg yolks to the 1/2 cup of water and beat together with fork. Drizzle over the butter and flour. Toss with a fork until the dough starts to come together. If the dough looks dry, add the additional tablespoon of water. Massage the dough with your hand to form a cohesive dough, then flatten into a disk about 1-inch thick and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
Once the dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 375°F. Make the frangipane filling by combining the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until the butter is fluffy and clings to the side of the bowl, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and beat to incorporate. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the vanilla, almond extract, and salt. Mix to incorporate, scrape down the side again, then add the almond meal and 2 tablespoons of the pear poaching liquid.
Dust a clean surface with flour, then roll out the dough to a 15-inch round circle. Slip the dough onto a piece of parchment paper (if it hangs over the edges of the paper a bit, don’t worry, you’ll be folding in the edges). Spread the frangipane filling into the middle of the dough, leaving about a 2-inch border all the way around the edge of the dough. Cut each pear half into 3 slices and arrange them in concentric circles on top of the frangipane. Once the center is filled with pears, fold the dough edges over the pears, “pleating” the dough to make it fold around the pear in a circle. Once folded in, you should have about 2-inches of dough folded over the pears, and a hole about 7-inches wide exposing the pears in the center.
Carefully use the parchment paper to lift and move the galette onto a 13 x 18-inch rimmed baking sheet (leaving the galette on the paper). Beat the egg yolk and water together and brush it over the top of the crust, as well as under the pleats of the crust, to seal them together. Try not to get any egg wash on the parchment paper though, as it will make it hard to remove the galette from the paper once it’s baked. Sprinkle the tart with the sugar, then bake until the crust is golden brown, about 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool completely on the baking sheet before slipping the galette onto a serving plate.