Pear and almond tarts

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Grease a baking tray or line with baking paper.
2. Beat butter and caster sugar until light and creamy. Add egg and mix well, then fold in ground almonds and flour.
3. Cut 24 8cm circles from pastry using a cookie cutter. Take 12 of the circles and cut an inner circle of 6cm to make 12 rings. Brush the bottom of each pastry ring with a little water and place on a pastry circle to make 12 pastry cases. Put each case on the cold prepared baking tray.
4. Place a heaped teaspoon of almond mixture in the middle of each case and smooth the top, taking care to keep filling inside the circle.
5. Slice the pears lengthways, remove core and place 3 slices on top of the filling of each tart.
6. Bake until the pastry is puffed and golden - approximately 10 minutes.
7. While the tarts are cooking, make the glaze by combining the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Stir over a gentle heat to dissolve the sugar. Bring to the boil then set aside.
8. Brush cooked tarts with glaze. To serve, place tarts on a platter drizzled with caramel sauce.

Caramel Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 cup (220g) sugar
• 1/4 cup (60ml) water
• 3/4 cup (180ml) cream
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

1. Heat sugar and water together in a small saucepan, stirring constantly and brushing sides with a wet pastry brush to remove any sugar crystals.
2. Bring to the boil and continue to boil without stirring until syrup starts to colour.
3. Tilt pan slightly to spread colour through sugar and allow to deepen to a light amber.
4. Immediately remove pan from heat and very carefully pour in cream - it will bubble and could spit so keep pan at arm's length. Stir in vanilla.
5. Serve warm or cold. The sauce will keep in the refrigerator for 4 days.
6. Makes 2 cups

Recipe courtesy of Helen Jackson's Kitchen