Double Delight Grain-Free Pear Tart

Got a few extra pears that are getting a bit ripe? Time to make a grain-free pear tart! This delightful tart is perfect rustic farm style with one large under crust folded imperfectly over the top edges. It’s imperfection is it’s charm. The pie crust recipe will make a double crust so you can make 2! Invite a friend or two over and enjoy.

Make the Grain-Free Pear Tart Crust

For this double crust, I use lard which gives a nice flaky crust. The night before, I set the container out from the fridge and let soften a bit. My wrist doesn’t like trying to scoop the fridge-cold lard.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 C. Almond flour (my favorite is from Costco)
• 1 1/2 C. Tapioca starch
• 1 tsp. Salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. Xantham gum
• 1 C. Lard
• 1 egg
• 1 TBS. Vinegar
• 5 TBS. Cold water

Dry Ingredients

Measure the almond flour and tapioca starch (unpacked) into a mixing bowl. Stir in the salt and xantham gum with a fork making sure it is well blended.

Wet Ingredients

Cut in the lard with a pastry cutter until it is well incorporated and mixture is like lumpy sand. Take the most time on this step, the lard well-distributed will have a direct impact on the flaky quality of the finished crust.

Add egg, vinegar, and cold water into a separate container and blend with a fork. Add this to the dough and fluff with a fork until all dough is moistened and together like very fresh play dough.

Separate in half and form one half into a ball. Turn out onto a well floured (almond flour) piece of wax paper. Dust the top of the dough ball with more almond flour. If you are only making one tart, put the other half of the dough in a freezer bag and freeze until needed.

Rolling out the dough

To start the rolling out of the dough, Use one hand to act as a border wall to pat and push the dough in a circle shape. This will help to avoid odd edge cracks and jutting out pieces of dough when you roll it. Sprinkle on top and around sides of dough circle with more almond flour, top the dough with another sheet of wax paper, and use a rolling pin to roll out the dough right over the top of the wax paper. Roll dough until large enough to overlap a pie plate and approx. 1/8 inch thick.

Gently peel the top wax paper off. I like to place the pie plate right at the edge of the dough, sandwich the dough and bottom wax paper between my hands, and quickly flip it over into the pie plate. Position the dough in the plate and then peel the wax paper off slowly.

Settle the dough into the bottom of the pie plate and pierce a few times with a fork. This helps avoid huge crust bubbles while baking. Let the sides continue to hang over the edge. Set aside.

Pear Tart Filling for 2 tarts

• Approx. 4 pears per tart. Mine were medium-sized
• 1/4 C. Brown Sugar
• 1 tsp. Cinnamon + extra for dusting on crust (optional)
• 1/2 tsp. Nutmeg
• Pat of butter (optional)
• White sugar for dusting on crust (optional)

Peel and slice your pears, cutting out any bruised areas. Add pear slices, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg into a mixing bowl and toss mixture gently with a fork to coat pear slices. Pour into the two tart crusts evenly. It will not fill the pie plate as full as a traditional pie. Put a pat of butter on top of the pears if you wish.

Gently fold the edges of the dough over the filling in whatever shape it lands in. The less perfect the better! It’s ok to use little pieces here and there. Lightly sprinkle crust with sugar and cinnamon. Bake at 375 degrees for approx. 30 minutes until crust is slightly golden. Let cool slightly, serve with vanilla ice cream, Swedish vanilla sauce, caramel sauce, half and half, whipped cream, regular milk, or solo. Enjoy your pear tart!

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