Food & Drinks

For the drink this afternoon

Pear tart with French cheese and nut honey

Double chocolate chip brownies with layers of icing and swirled with salted caramel, cream puffs, sugared donuts filled with pastry cream, boxes of popcorn, and tubs filled with M&M’s; set it down for me and I will keep my hands off it. But if you present a humongous wooden board with French cheeses, then I will attack it before it’s even properly on the table. I will leave the pieces of bread aside and the stack of crackers next to the creamy soft brie de meaux I will also leave neatly untouched. But this tart made of mixed nuts and pear, that one is going down.

This savory sweet tart is delicious with some cheese this afternoon on the charcuterie board but also works well tonight as a dessert with a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of whipped ice cream. And it’s also super easy to make.

For one pear tart

For the honey

  • 175 grams of mixed unsalted nuts
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 125 ml honey
  • 6 slices of butter puff pastry
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 tsp ginger powder
  • 1/4 tsp clove
  • 3 ripe pears
  • 1 egg
  • powdered sugar
  • French cheese of your choice

1. Take a sealable container or a jar with a lid. Fill it with 100 grams of the nuts, the cinnamon stick, and the honey.
2. Let it sit for at least one night.
3. Stack the slices of puff pastry on top of each other and roll out until you have a sheet of dough.
4. Place the dough in a large baking tray lined with baking paper.
5. Cut the dough 1 centimeter from the edge, but not through so that a ‘border’ forms during baking.
6. Roast the remaining nuts in a dry frying pan over medium heat.
7. Chop the nuts finely with a sharp kitchen knife and add the spices to the nut mixture.
8. Spread the nuts over the bottom of the puff pastry.
9. Peel the pears and cut them into wedges. Lay the wedges in a shingle pattern on the nut mixture.
10. Brush the edge with the egg and sift some powdered sugar over the tart.
11. Bake for about 20 minutes until golden brown and cooked through.
12. Serve with French cheese and the nut honey.