Ingredients

• 400g/14oz sweet shortcrust pastry
• 1 free-range egg
• beaten
• 4 ripe pears
• peeled
• cored and cut into thin wedges
• 2 lemons
• juice only
• 75g/2½oz softened butter
• 75g/2½oz golden caster sugar
• 75g/2½oz ground almonds
• 1 free-range egg yolk
• 2 tbsp pear liqueur or brandy
• 3 tbsp apricot jam

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4.
• Line the tart tin with the pastry
• cover with a sheet of greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans. Bake for 15 minutes
• then remove the baking beans and paper
• brush the pastry with the beaten egg and bake for a further 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
• To make the filling
• toss the pears in the lemon juice to stop them from going brown. Beat together the butter
• sugar
• ground almonds
• egg yolk and pear liqueur (or brandy) until smooth. Spoon into the pastry case
• then spread out in an even layer. Arrange the pears in overlapping rings
• starting from the outside edge of the tart and working inwards.
• Bake for 30 minutes and then set aside to cool. As the tart cools
• heat the jam in a small saucepan until loosened
• then pass it through a sieve into a bowl.
• Carefully remove the tart from the tin and brush the top generously with the jam. Leave to cool before slicing and serving.