Friday, January 4, 2013

Pear & Bourbon Vanilla Bean Custard Tart + Happy New Year 2013!


HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013 y'all!

Birthday, Christmas & New Years was a quiet affair where it felt good to unwind, taking a deep breath to think calmly reflecting all that has happened throughout the year. It was great to be able to catch up with close friends for my Birthday, planned 2 hearty lunches for the family; one on Christmas and the other on New Year's Day where I placed my camera aside and enjoyed a meal, had heartfelt conversations which was much needed.


Last year has been a whirlwind year, filled with heaps of ups & down times. Mostly down times am afraid. However to balance it off, I was fortunate to be able to work on mini projects with other foodie friends. Year 2013 will not be anything short either, as there are already work of projects lined up. Now, it boils down to finding the right time for me to post them up and sharing them with you.

Feeling a whiff of excitement as always and eagerly wanting to share every good eats with you, I may just need you to be patient with my irregular posting. Juggling between work, food blogging and spending some time with my family is a priority I constantly struggle with, as everyone of them and YOU deserve my every single attention. I hope Year 2013 will be sensational and that I will finally be able to find a way to strike a balance in everything I do. Okay, without further a do, lets move on to what I have in place for you starting this year.
No crazy baking and cake decorating, just a simple classy PEAR & BOURBON VANILLA BEAN CUSTARD TART to end a meal. The sweet pastry tart shell is switched up with a blend of aromatic gingery gingersnap, light fluffy basic custard infused with vanilla bean & hint of Bourbon Whiskey making one wonder what is that kick undertone and lastly the topped with the main stars; poached pears. To serve, I drizzled some brown sugar syrup for that additional earthy note. Not to filling, just right and booze is always a good way to celebrate any festive season.


Pear & Bourbon Vanilla Bean Custard Tart
by Chic & Gorgeous Treats                                          


* Makes a single 8-9 inch pie or tart.
* Tart is best served fresh the same day.
* Pear sugar syrup can be used in drinks or in other desserts.

INGREDIENTS
           
Sweet Gingery Shortcrust Pastry
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1 cup gingersnap cookies, finely crushed
3 tablespoon brown sugar, lightly packed
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
150g unsalted cold butter, cut into cubes
2-3 tablespoons iced water

Poached Pears (Spanish, Anjou, Bosc)
8-10 medium sized pears, halved & cored
1 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup water
1 stick vanilla pod, sliced and seeds scraped

Bourbon Vanilla Crème Légere
2 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 1/2 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
2-4 tablespoons bourbon whiskey
1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped soft peaks

          


DIRECTIONS

To prepare Poach Pears: (feel free to use Bosc or Anjou pears or whichever is on offer or having a good bargain-I used Spanish pears)

1. In a medium deep saucepan, add sugar and together with 1/2 cup water. Over medium heat, boil until sugar dissolves. Add the pears (cored and halved), along with a sliced-seeds scraped vanilla pod. Turn heat down to low, where syrup is on a gentle simmer, cooking the pears until it becomes translucent in colour but still has a little bite to it. With a slotted spoon, spoon pears out onto a tray or bowl. Once they are cooled, slice them approximately, 1 cm thick. Set aside until it’s ready to be assembled.

To make the Sweet Gingery Shortcrust Pastry shell:

2. Process gingersnap cookies (approximately 1 dozen medium sized ginger snaps) in a food processor until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the flour, sugar, cubed cold butter and vanilla extract. Blitz or pulse it for about 2-3 minutes or until it resembles slightly moist bread crumbs. While the motor is running, add a tablespoon of iced water at a time to form a smooth dough (I used about 3 tablespoons), and pulse it for another 1 minute until the dough comes together.

3. Transfer the dough to between sheets of parchment paper, and lightly shape it into a disc. Roll out the pastry until about 1/8-inches thick. Then transfer the dough to the fridge and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180°C.

4. Take dough out of the fridge, and thaw it for about 2 minutes. Remove one side of the parchment paper, line the rolled out dough over the tart pan. Gently press it down, making sure to fill all the edges and removed the other parchment paper. Roll the rolling pin over the top of the tart pan to remove any excess dough. Prick the bottom with a fork, cover tart shell with a parchment paper, and top with baking weights or beans. Bake pastry for 10 minutes, remove the weights and parchment paper and bake between 8-10 minutes or until pastry is lightly golden in colour.

To prepare Bourbon Vanilla Cream Custard

5. In a medium heatproof bowl, place egg yolks, sugar, plain flour and corn flour and whisk to form a thick paste.  Add the milk along with vanilla bean paste in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium high heat. While whisking egg and flour mixture pour the vanilla milk in a stream and continue to whisk to combine.

6. Pour the custard mixture back into the saucepan and place back over the heat and lightly whisk constantly until the mixture comes to a boil then cook a further few minutes or coats the back of a wooden spoon. This pastry cream should be very thick. Sift pastry cream through a strainer into a bowl to remove any lumps. Fold in the bourbon whiskey. Press a piece of cling film onto the surface to prevent skin forming and refrigerate until cool.

To assemble the Bourbon Vanilla Cream Custard Pear Tart:

7. Whip heavy cream until soft peaks and fold into Bourbon Vanilla Custard Cream. If Vanilla Custard is slightly firm, whisk it lightly to help loosen the pastry cream. Fold in whipped cream. Filling will immediately become lighter, rich and fluffy.

8. Pipe or spoon pastry cream filling into tart shell.  Top with sliced pears. Transfer Bourbon Vanilla Cream Custard Pear Tart back to the fridge and chill for another 30 minutes. Thaw 5-10 minutes before serving. ENJOY!


P/S: THANK YOU for your support till this very day, and I sure hope you continue to support Chic & Gorgeous Treats as I am forever growing and yearning to improve in this element. May be slow and not necessarily posting regularly as I hoped, for now most posts will be either posted on a MONDAY, WEDNESDAY or FRIDAY.

Have a wonderful year ahead and wishing all of you filled with good health and lots of wealth!!!

xx







27 comments:

  1. Wow, I can't tell you how much I want to try this. This looks too good! Happy new year!!

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    1. Hi Cathleen, HNY!! Thanks for coming over.. Will pop over to buzz you too. Cheers~

      p/s: stay in touch.

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  2. Replies
    1. Thanks FS! Will continue to persevere and hoping 2013 will be a better sensational year with an improved self too :). HNY to you and your family too. Cheers~

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  3. Wow, what a fantastic dessert! I love pears and I think this is going to be great on weekends!

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    1. Me too, I try to find an excuse to incorporate fruits into my treats since I love their natural sweet taste. Indeed it was perfect for the weekend. HNY and here's to another year of fantastic food blogging!! ♥

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  4. Hi Jo! Happy New Year! I wish you all wonderful and beautiful things for 2013. Let's hope that this year is better than the last, eh? Keep those sweet treats coming. I made no resolutions and will continue to be naughty when it comes to desserts :)

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    1. Hi PH! I don't have any resolution either. Will sure keep those good stuff coming. Now I just need to find time to bake as much goodies I possibly can. Have a wonderful week ahead!! xoxo

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  5. Happy Neew Year Joanna. I really hope 2013 is much better for you. We had a quiet Christmas too. Just the two of us (and kids, obviously).

    This look so divine. I only use bourbon vanilla beans too (and extract). IMO, I think it has the best flavour. The pears are so pretty. I could gobble up this entire tart in a space of a day, LOL.

    -Lisa.
    Sweet 2 Eat Baking

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    1. Thanks Lisa! I sure hope 2013 will be a sensational year filled with lots of exciting projects and sweet treats. You keep your awesome baking coming too cause I know I will be there cheering and drooling insanely over my keyboard. ♥

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  6. It's a great recipe and I love the photos <3 Happy new yerar my dear foodie friend XD

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    1. Thanks Vane! Glad that this made it part of Vanille. Now I'm excited to see what is coming up next ;). xoxo

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  7. Oh I know how it feels around holidays plus birthdays...no time to take a breath:)
    This looks amazing Jo! I love pears and your tart is just fantastic as well as you yummy pictures! I wish you an amazing 2013!!!xo

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    1. I completely agree. Although it's fun, the not so fun part is cleaning up all those dishes. LOL

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  8. Happy New Year!!!
    Wishing you all the very best.
    I always love and enjoy your photos and reading your blog.
    You always have beautiful and tempting treats.
    xoxo

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    1. Hi Lola! How're you? It's been a long time my friend. Hope all is well at your side. Thanks so much for the continuous support and ♥ towards my ever growing so slowly blog. Have a splendid year and here's to more food blogging!! xoxo

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  9. Happy New Year to you as well! What a beautiful post to start off the new year with!!! Always love your pictures but this tart looks irresistible all of the way down to the ginger pastry! WOW! What a tart!

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    1. HNY Mjs! Thanks for supporting my blog and here's to another year of fantastic food blogging! Have a great week ♥

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  10. Your pear tarts are gorgeous! I understand exactly what you mean about finding the right balance between work, blogging and personal time. I struggle with it as well -- but I find that making mental lists really helps.

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    1. Thanks for the tip. Will certainly keep that in mind as I really need to learn to have a balance and probably learn to say "NO" too :P.

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  11. What a gorgeous treat...this is bound to cause a few people to fall off the New Year's resolution bandwagon...it looks utterly delicious! Wishing you a happy and balanced 2013 :-)

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    1. LOL... oh!! no.. I hope I am not part of the cause. Well lets just say run an extra mile every alternate day? Quite forgiving I'd say :P

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  12. Love the pear layering on this tart! Here's to hoping 2013 brings you more good times and lots of food related adventures :)

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    1. Thanks Lawyer Loves Lunch for coming over. Here's to 2013 where it will be filled with glorious delicious food posts :P. Stay in touch!! cheers~

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  13. SO stunning, Jo! You are always an inspiration!!! xo

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Hey foodies! THANK YOU for leaving me with sweet comments. I hope to inspire you like how you inspire me. Cheers~

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