About the Recipe
We adapted Mary Berry's recipe and created a delicious plant-based desert that's perfect for chilly winter evenings.
Ingredients
For the pastry:
100 g plant-based butter (we used Flora)
225g plain flour
25g icing sugar
60 ml of “oggs” aquafaba
For the filling:
175 g plant-based butter
175g caster sugar
140ml “oggs”
175g ground almonds
15 ml plant-based milk
40g plain flour
1 tsp almond extract
5-6 ripe pears (we used conference - peeled, cored, and halved)
Preparation
Add the butter, flour and icing sugar to the food processor and blitz until it resembles ground almonds. Add the “oggs” and pulse the blade until the dough starts to form a ball around the central stem. Form the pastry into a smooth ball and wrap with clingfilm. Chill for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 170C with fan, 190C no fan or gas mark 5.
Make the filling in the unwashed processor. Cream the butter and sugar together, then gradually add the “oggs” (don’t worry if it looks like it’s curdled at this stage) scrape down the sides of the food processor with a spatula. Add the ground almonds, flour, and almond extract. Process for a few seconds until well blended. Leave the mixture in the fridge until required.
Roll out the chilled pastry on a lightly floured surface. Line a flan tin 28cm in diameter and about 2.5 cm deep.
Spoon the mixture into the pastry case and level the top using a small pallet knife. Arrange the pear halves, cut side down, attractively on the filling. Leave enough space to allow the frangipane mixture to rise.
Place the tart into the oven and bake for about 45 minutes until the almond filling and pastry are golden brown.
Once baked allow to cool slightly and then brush with hot apricot jam and sprinkle with toasted almonds. Serve warm with cream or creme fraiche.