Upside-down pear tart

6 Servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
7 Firm ripe pears (about 3-1/2 pounds)
¾ cup Sugar
½ cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
½ pack Pie crust mix OR your favorite single-crust recipe
½ cup Heavy cream, whipped

Directions

FROM: Family Circle, 9/72

A deliciously different way to make a pear tart. Caramelized fresh pears bake under a flaky curst. When turned out, the handsome fruit design shows.

Pare, halve and core pears. Slice 7 or 8 halves crosswise and on an angle, each into 4 or 5 slices, keeping slices intact. Arrange as whole halves in a 9-inch deep pie plate, rounded side down ans stem ends towards center; trim one pear half to a round to fit center. Slice remaining pears into ½-inch slices, arrange on top to fill plate.

Melt ½ cup of teh sugar over medium-high heat in a small heavy skillet; continue heating until sugar caramelized and turns golden-brown. Remove from heat; quickly stir in butter until almost melted, then pour over pears.

Prepare piecrust mix, following label directions or make pastry from your favorite single-crust recipe. Roll out to a 10-inch round on a lightly floured pastry board; place on top of pears. Do not attach to edge.

BAke in 425~ oven for 30 minutes or until crust is golden and pears are done. (Place a piece of foil under pie in case juices should bubble out.) Cool on wire rack about 30 minutes. Invert onto a serving platter with a rim. (Pie will have formed a syrup.) With a baster or spoon, remove syrup to a 1-cup measure. (You should then have about ¼ cup, depending on the fruit.)

Melt remaining ¼ cup sugar in a small heavy saucepan. Heat very slowly until sugar melts into a colorless liquid, then turns golden-brown color and is caramelized. Stir in the reserved fruit syrup from the tart. Boil the syrup rapidly until it is reduced to about ½ cup. It will be slightly thickened. Take care it does not scorch as you are boiling.

Just before serving, spoon warm caramel sauce evenly over tart, reserving 1 Tbsp. Spoon or pipe whipped cream onto center; drizzle reserved caramel sauce over.

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini

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