Pear Frozen Yogurt

A chilly, but oh so welcoming reception to Spring! Flowers burst forth with their shout out for all to hear and see...even an arctic fox, at our local zoo, took in Spring's soft sun rays. A lovely sight!

Upon my return from the zoo, I perused through the fridge and encountered bits of this, that, and the other. It was then, when I found inspiration--leftover plain whole milk yogurt and several forgotten pear slices. I had them get together with cardamom and honey, a truly dynamic couple, and gave them a whirl. Added a splash of alcohol, '43', and made everyone a little swirly! Who knew such staples would pack a punch? Really, a true story!

My refrigerated finds were further inspired by Helene from mytartelette.com. She has a plethora of tempting recipes. I can't forget to mention her photography, a genius with a bionic aesthetic eye!

Pear Frozen Yogurt

10 ounces plain whole milk yogurt

4 tablespoons honey

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

1 pear

1 tablespoon '43' or other preferred liquor

1/4-1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Frozen yogurt base prep:

Line colander with cheesecloth or heavy duty paper towels. Place colander in bowl and let sit at least 6 hours to overnight to release excess moisture.

Peel and puree pear in food processor

Add yogurt 'base', honey, and cardamom

Combine in food processor

Add 1 tablespoon of alcohol pulse 2-3 times to blend

Pour into freezer safe bowl
Freeze until desired firmness

Serve as is, or drizzle honey and dress with chopped pistachios!

Spectaculary sexy!

* Canned pears work just as well
* To enhance flavors, allow mixture to sit in fridge for at least 15 minutes before freezing

* I think I may have added a little too much cardamom, adjust it to suit your taste.

* I added '43', to keep the frozen yogurt creamy and scoopable, I don't care for it to be rock hard. Ok, the truth of the matter is, I don't like to wait. When I pull it out of the freezer, I want to enjoy it right then, as in now, it has to be at the ready!

* Alcohol inhibits complete freezing--no more than 1tbs. If you want more, then serve yourself in a chilled glass and call it good

Pear Tart

'Look, mama! Autumn kissed the leaves!', exclaimed my observant child. Evening walks lend themselves a view long forgotten, when taking them with a child. Colorful red orange hues on maple trees, newly labeled as 'autumn kissed'...that's one to remember!

Recently, my lovely neighbors dropped off a couple of large bags of plums and pears--mmm, another sign of autumn. After 'tiring' of several pears a day for what felt like forever and three days, I decided it was time to do more with them. I found a pretty tempting tart at mytartelette.com This gal, by the way, is amazing! The food styling/ photography, the recipes, the humor...fantastic!

I made her frangipane tart, but to my dismay, due to constant distractions and over eagerness...it flopped. Big time. With another notch of culinary disaster under my belt, I took the extra tart dough and tried again. This time I made a sour cream based filling and added Helene's honey roasted pears on top.
Wow! The tart was impressive, somewhat. My son gasped and said, 'Mama, it's sooo purdy! I don't want it. It's too honey-y and pear-y'. A self proclaimed food critic, who doesn't need to taste it in order to come to a conclusion...and so, we move on. It was not only pleasing to the eye, but also to the palate!

The sour cream base is quite versatile. It can be altered to accommodate the moment, as well as seasonal fruit!

Pear Tart

Sable dough and honey roasted apples

by Helene Dujardin, mytartelette.com

Sable Dough

1 stick (115 gr) butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup (93 gr) powdered sugar

1 large egg

1 1 /2 cups (188gr) flour

2 tablespoons (20 gr) cornstarch (makes for a lighter crumb)

pinch of salt

In a mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.

Add the egg and mix until combined.

Add the flour, cornstarch and salt and mix briefly to incorporate.

Dump the whole mixture onto a lightly floured board and gather the dough into a smooth ball. Do not work the dough while in the mixer or it will toughen up. Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.

When the dough is nice and cold, roll it out on a lightly floured board or in between the sheets of plastic. You will need half the amount of dough to make the tartelettes.

The other half can be kept in the fridge for up to 5 days or frozen, well wrapped for up to 3 months.

Cut out rounds with a 3 inch pastry ring. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake at 350F for 8-10 minutes. Let cool

Honey Roasted Apples:

4 medium apples

1/2 cup honey

Preheat oven to 350F.

Peel core and cut the apples in thin slices.

Lay them on a couple of parchment paper lined baking sheets and drizzle at will with the honey.

Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden. Let cool

Sour Cream Filling

adapted from Tanya Belt, Allrecipes.com

3/4 cup sugar *
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 pinch salt
1 egg, beaten
1 cup sour cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a medium bowl, stir together sugar, flour, spices, and salt.

Add sour cream, mix until smooth.

Beat in egg, and combine until smooth.

Pour filling into cooled prebaked tart shell.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until knife inserted comes out clean.

Let cool.

Arrange roasted pears on firm and set filling.

Store in refrigerator, covered.

*Pears and apples have been used interchangably. I roasted pears, under the premise of Helene's honey roasted apple recipe.

* I made an 8 inch tart and increased baking time.

* I will definitely decrease the sugar in the filling, due to the sweetness of the pears and honey.