Almond and Poached Pear Tart

MilkBar Pie is an iconic sugary, buttery, pie that is so good, it was once called Crack Pie. When I lived in New York City and was in Culinary school, my favorite thing I learned about was the combination of almonds and pears. In school we made a Tarte Bourdaloue, and it was delightful! Fred and I have teamed up again to bring you this amazing creation. You know how this works, he has half the recipe and I have the other half. Check out his page: https://freddysharajuku.com

For the Pears:

• One bottle white wine, something on the drier side, chardonnay, pinot grigio, etc
• 250g sugar
• Juice and zest of one lemon
• 3 inch nob of ginger, sliced
• Pinch salt
• 6 pears peeled
• Enough water to finish covering pears

1. Heat all ingredients apart from the water and pears to a simmer until sugar is dissolved. 
   • _{^{bottle of white wine, 250g sugar, juice and zest of one lemon, 3 inch nob of ginger-sliced, pinch of salt}}
2. Add the pears and water to cover them, add a cartouche and simmer until pears are fork tender. 
   • ^{6 pears peeled, enough water to finish covering pears}
3. Drain and allow the fruit and poaching liquid to cool separately. Store cooked fruit in the poaching liquid after it has been cooled for up to 3 days or use right away. 
4. For the tart, slice the pears in half and core them. Slice however you would like and use to garnish the tart. You likely will not use all 6 pears. 
5. With the extra pears you can make pretty poire en cage, a pear puff pastry dish. Or you can just poach 3 for this recipe and only use them for the tart. Up to you.

For the custard filling:

• 500g sugar
• 9 large egg yolks
• 1 large egg
• 240g almond flour
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp almond extract

1. Heat 500g sugar and one cup water to create a syrup. Let cool to room temp.
   • ^{500g sugar, one cup water}
2. Combine all ingredients and blend until smooth, light, and airy.
   • ^{9 large egg yolks, 1 large egg, 240g almond flour, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp almond extract, sugar syrup from step one}
3. Pour filling into crust and bake at 350 for 30 minutes and then lower temp to 300 and bake until the top of the filling is dark and the edges are set (maybe up to 40 minutes). Allow to cool completely at room temp and then refrigerate one hour before adding pear slices on top.