Tarte Bourdaloue

Paris's great pear tart: poached Williams pear halves set into a pale, fragrant almond cream baked in a buttery pastry shell, the frangipane swelling around the fruit until golden: the tart that the pâtisseries of the Rue Bourdaloue sold to all of Belle Époque Paris

Origin: France

From the journey of Pear.

The Tarte Bourdaloue takes its name from the Rue Bourdaloue in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, a short street near the Opéra Garnier named for the Jesuit preacher Louis Bourdaloue (1632–1704), whose sermons were so long that ladies of the court reportedly brought chamber pots to church in muffs: a story that led to chamber pots being nicknamed 'bourdaloues' in French. The tart itself: a pear frangipane tart in a shortcrust or pâte sucrée shell, appeared on the menus of the pâtisseries of the Rue Bourdaloue and the surrounding Opéra quarter in the 1870s–1880s and rapidly became one of the emblematic Parisian tarts of the Belle Époque. It appears in the notebooks of pastry chefs who supplied the grand hôtels and the café-restaurants of the boulevards. The genius of the Bourdaloue is in the combination: the frangipane (crème d'amandes; ground almonds, butter, sugar, eggs, flour, almond extract) swells around the poached pear halves during baking, almost enveloping them, so that the finished tart is a study in complementary textures; crisp pastry, yielding almond cream, tender fruit. The pear is the ideal fruit for this treatment: it holds its shape under the heat, its gentle sweetness does not compete with the almond, and its juice perfumes the frangipane from within.

Ingredients

Pears

  • 4 medium firm Williams or Comice pears, poached in vanilla syrup (see step 1) or canned pear halves in syrup, drained

Pastry (pâte sucrée)

  • 200 g plain flour
  • 100 g cold unsalted butter, cubed
  • 60 g icing sugar (confectioners' sugar)
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 2 tbsp cold water

Frangipane (crème d'amandes)

  • 150 g ground almonds (almond flour)
  • 150 g unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 150 g white sugar
  • 3 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 2 tbsp plain flour
  • 1 tsp pure almond extract (or 1 tbsp poire William eau-de-vie for authenticity)

Glaze

  • 3 tbsp apricot jam, warmed and sieved (for the glaze)

Topping

  • 25 g flaked almonds (for the top, optional but traditional)

Method

  1. Poach the pears: make a light syrup (500ml water + 150g sugar + 1 vanilla pod) and simmer the peeled, halved, and cored pears for 15–20 minutes until just tender. Remove and cool on a rack. (If using canned pears, drain and pat dry thoroughly.)
  2. Make the pâte sucrée: blend the flour, icing sugar, and salt. Rub in the cold butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk and cold water, mix until the dough just comes together. Flatten into a disc, wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
  3. Roll the chilled pastry to 3mm thickness on a lightly floured surface. Line a 24–26cm loose-bottomed tart tin, pressing carefully into the corners. Trim the overhang. Prick the base with a fork and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Blind bake at 180°C for 15 minutes with baking beans, then 5 minutes without, until pale gold. Set aside.
  4. Make the frangipane: beat the softened butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in the ground almonds, flour, and almond extract. The frangipane should be smooth and creamy.
  5. Spread the frangipane evenly into the blind-baked tart shell; it should fill the shell to about two-thirds. Arrange the pear halves cut-side down on the frangipane, fanning them out from the centre like spokes of a wheel or placing them in a radial pattern. Press each pear half gently into the frangipane.
  6. Scatter flaked almonds over the exposed frangipane between and around the pears. Bake at 180°C for 30–35 minutes until the frangipane is golden, puffed, and set; a skewer inserted into the centre of the frangipane should come out clean.
  7. While the tart is still warm, brush the entire surface, pears, frangipane, and almonds, with the warm, sieved apricot glaze. This gives the tart its characteristic Parisian mirror-finish and prevents the pear from drying out.
  8. Serve at room temperature; the Bourdaloue is at its best 2–4 hours after baking, when the frangipane has fully set and the flavours have integrated. Serve in thin slices with a small spoonful of crème fraîche alongside.

Notes

The crème d'amandes (frangipane) used in the Tarte Bourdaloue is related to but distinct from the crème frangipane used in a Galette des Rois; the Bourdaloue version is a pure almond cream without the addition of pastry cream (crème pâtissière). The addition of pastry cream to almond cream creates crème frangipane, which is lighter and more mousse-like; the pure crème d'amandes is denser and more intensely almond-flavoured, which suits the pairing with pear. The name 'frangipane' is believed to derive from the Frangipani family of Rome, who in the 16th century created a perfume from almonds and musk; the scent was later applied to almond-flavoured preparations in the French kitchen.

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