Pear Frangipane Tart (Vegan)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a 9-inch tart pan, springform pan or pie dish with cooking spray.

First, prepare the crust. In a food processor, pulse almonds into a fine meal. Add flour, sugar and salt and pulse to combine. Stream in canola oil and 3 tablespoons of almond milk while continuing to pulse. Mixture should hold together when pressed between your fingertips. If it still feels a little dry, mix in one more additional tablespoon of almond milk at a time.

Sprinkle almond mixture into the prepared pan and press it across the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Press the crust as far up the sides as you can to hold in the filling.

Bake at 350 F for 15 minutes. Remove pan from the oven and allow crust to cool while you prepare the filling, but keep oven at 350 F.

To make the frangipane: Process almonds to a fine meal in the food processor. Pulse in Earth Balance, sugar, cornstarch, ground cinnamon, and salt until crumbly. Continue to pulse and stream in almond milk, vanilla extract, and almond extract until you form a thick batter. Spread frangipane mixture into the cooled tart shell.

Pat the pear slices dry with a paper towel. Gently press one sliced pear into the frangipane in the center of the tart. This is best done with an offset spatula, but can be done carefully with a knife. For the rest of the pears, tip the slices over so that they are leaning over, rather than standing straight up (see picture on the related blog link). Carefully place them in a circle around the center pear, thin ends pointing inward.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until tart is golden brown. Remove from oven and cool for 20 minutes, then brush (carefully!) with melted jam. Cool completely before slicing.

Crust and tart recipes from the Post Punk Kitchen.