The Tarte Bourdaloue, also known as Bourdaloue or tarte amandine aux poires, is a French pastry created in the second half of the 19th century.
It is named after rue Bourdaloue in Paris, where its creator, Nicolas Bourgoin from the Lesserteur house, lived in the mid-1800s; back then, it was a cake made with ground almonds, sugar, eggs, starch, baked, and then glazed with kirsch.
In its modern version, it consists of large pieces of poached pears placed on pâte sablée, garnished with frangipane or almond cream.
In France, pâte sablée is much more commonly used than shortcrust pastry, which they call pâte sucrée.
In sablée, the sugar quantities are lower, and its consistency is ‘sandy’ and crumbly.
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 6 people
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: French
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 11 tbsp butter
- 2/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1 egg (or just egg white)
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 canned pears (or 2 pears and sugar syrup)
- 5 tbsp butter
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 3 eggs
- 1 vial vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp sliced almonds
Tools
- 1 Cake Pan 26 cm
Steps
Mix a pinch of salt with the flour, then crumble the butter into it.
Whisk the egg (or egg white) with the powdered sugar and add it to the flour mixture.
Form a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
If not using canned pears: poach the peeled, halved pears in sugar syrup (750ml water + 1 cup sugar).
For the filling: combine the melted butter with the sugar and almond flour. Add the eggs and vanilla extract.
Line the 26 cm pan with the pâte sablée, prick small holes with a fork, spread some of the sliced almonds, and then the filling.
Arrange the pears in a star pattern on top of the almond cream, and decorate with the remaining sliced almonds.
Bake in the oven at 350°F for 35 minutes.
