When I was a child, my mother made a pear tart. Once out of the oven it was topped with melted raspberry jam (I think… it was red fruits jam). My mother died a few years back and I’ve been trying to find the recipe for some time now. Is this tart part of your childhood memories? If yes please share the recipe with me. Thank you.
Have you tried running an image search on Google to pin down a visual description that might lead to a recipe? This method helped me find a fish dish my grandfather made. A pear tart with a jam glaze turned up dozens of variations…an image/visual might help narrow down the style/method you enjoyed.
A visual or a little more description of the tart to help. What do you remember from a taste or texture standpoint? Were the pears all by themselves, like an apple pie type thing . . . or was there a batter type filling around the pears?
What era are we talking about? That might help pin point a style as well.
Sorry you lost the recipe. It’s always hard when we loose people, you wish you could go back in time to get some details down (recipes, family history, etc). Good Luck!
I’m the youngest of 5 children and I realise that none of my sister and brothers has the recipe. Some say the pears were red, some say it was strawberry jam. They didn’t help me much. Mom was a single child so no aunt to turn to. The pears were thinly sliced and placed on a shortcrust pastry. I don’t remember the batter we added before putting the tart in the oven. I’ve tried the french frangipane (almond based batter) but the taste was not the same.
All I recall is a shortcrust pastry with slices of pear. The batter remains a mystery though as the youngest child I was always in the kitchen with my mom. I’m not sure of the memory but I think we added whiskey to the melted jam.
Pear, shortcrust, whiskey . . . I’m in for this ride . . .
I am hardly a pear tart expert, but there are (IMHO) 4 general ways to go with a fruit tart.
frangipane - classic almond custard/batter poured around
Just fruit - so just sliced fruit arranged and baked
Fruit with crumble - just sliced fruit with a butter/flour mix crumbled over the top
batter filling - as naf linked to above, a batter that is very similar with frangipane but with no almond
Thinning a fruit/jam with liquor to glaze the top of a fruit tart is very classic, so if you remember whiskey then I’d go with that. But it wouldn’t be traditional to glaze a “batter” filled tart, those are typically just dusted with powdered sugar (sometimes). So I wonder if it was a more straight forward fruit tart (a la #2, or #3).
So do you specifically remember your Mom pouring a batter into the tart? Topping a fruit tart with a crumble can create more of “filling” in the tart, since the flour in the crumble will also help thicken juices.
If your siblings remember red pears, do you remember your Mom poaching the pears before making the tart? That could easily create red pears - though a thinned jam glaze could do the same.
I suspect the “jam” was melted red currant jelly, which is an excellent, shiny glaze for tarts featuring pears or stone fruits. Bosc pears are a good choice for baking because they don’t break down as much as softer, juicier pears do. My German mother made a fruit tart every week. Just a buttercookie dough pressed into a pie pan, with sliced fruit neatly arranged in rings. Apples were tossed with cinnamon sugar, other fruits just sugar and if very juicy, like blueberries, a little cornstarch. Baked at 350F until the crust was golden brown. Glaze, if any, was applied warm once the tart had cooled. Perhaps your mom’s “batter” was a simple creme patissiere.