Thursday 24 October 2013

A recipe

I haven't done a recipe for a while, so here's one that's fruity and warming as the autumn nights draw in. I sort of made it up as I went, so some things are a little inexact, but there we go.

Pear and Ginger Tart

You will need: 

Around 250g shortcrust pastry
2-3 pears
100 g caster sugar
A roughly 2-inch long knob of ginger root
250ml water
A tablespoon of golden syrup
A little butter

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First, make the ginger syrup. Peel and chop your ginger root as finely as you can. I recommend peeling it by rubbing it with a teaspoon, it's very easy that way.
Put a small non-stick saucepan on to heat the water and the chopped ginger. Let it simmer covered for ten minutes or so, then uncovered for 15 mins to reduce slightly. Gradually stir in the sugar until all dissolved, and simmer gently for another 5-10 minutes. Add the golden syrup and turn the heat right down.
While your syrup is cooking away, line a tin or dish with your shortcrust pastry (plenty of good recipes all over the internet). Bake it blind for 10 minutes to crisp up the bottom. Peel and chop your pears lengthways quite finely. I went for a rather rustic look...

Take the ginger syrup off the heat and allow it to cool while you line your tart case with the pear pieces.  I found it helpful to put the ginger syrup into a jug so it would be easier to pour over the pears.

Pour the syrup over the pear slices and sprinkle a little more sugar on top. Dot the top with a few little knobs of butter here and there. Bake the tart in an oven preheated to 180 degrees Celsius. I'm afraid I can't really remember how long I had it in for, but it was at least half an hour. Basically, until the pears and pastry look cooked!



I highly recommend having it warm with some vanilla ice-cream. This recipe is really for those who like their ginger - using the real stuff leaves a little warm kick which has some bite to it!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yum, this looks good - must try it .... the wind has picked the last of the pears for me so will do this tomorrow.

Lotta Losten said...

This looks just heavenly! Do you have any good apple recipes? I have a million apples at home AFTER I made so much apple sauce I'm set for, well, maybe only this year, but still!

Louise said...

Thanks guys.

Lotta - Ha! I also have a freezer-full of apple sauce after my mum brought me a tiny fraction of this year's bumper crop. I think this recipe would be great with a straight swap of apples for pears, or simply leave out the ginger syrup and sprinkle the apple slices with 2 dessert-spoons of sugar, some cinnamon and a few knobs of butter. Yum!