Pear Custard Tart

Ingredients:

-1 disk Sweet Tart Dough,

at cool room temp. (recipe below)

-4 pears (Bartlett, Anjou, or Bosc),

peeled, halved, cored, and thinly sliced

-2 eggs

-2/3 cup sugar

-2 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted

-2 Tbs. heavy cream

-1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest

-3 Tbs. flour

-1 tsp. vanilla

-Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough into a 10 ½ inch round. Fit into a 9 ½ inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Fold the overhand over itself and press into the sides of the pan to make a sturdy rim. Freeze for 5 minutes. Blind bake (cover with parchment paper and pie weights) the tart shell until lightly golden, about 10 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.

-Arrange the pear slices in the cooled tart shell. In a bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs until thick and pale in color. Beat in the sugar. Add the butter, cream, lemon zest, flour, and vanilla and mix well. Pour the mixture evenly over the pears.

-Bake the tart for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 400 degrees and bake until the filling is set and the crust is golden brown, about 25 minutes longer. Let cool slightly in the pan on a wire rack. Remove the pan rim. Cut the tart into wedges and serve warm.

Sweet Tart Dough

Yield: 3 dough disks

Ingredients:

-3 cups flour

-1/3 cup powdered sugar

-1 ½ cups unsalted butter,

cold, cut into cubes

-1/3 cup ice water

-In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, and butter. Pulse just until the mixture forms coarse crumbs about the size of peas. Drizzle the ice water over the flour mixture and process just until fine crumbs form. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface, divide into 3 equal portions, and press each into a disk. Wrap each dough disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes before using. Disks can be stored in fridge for up to 3 days or in freezer for 1 month.