The last weekend of the year that we would be at home has already come and gone somehow! In celebration of the new house and trying a new recipe perhaps a little more labor intensive than the usual, I turned to David Lebovitz’s tried and true tome, “Ready for Dessert.” In a mood for pears, fresh from France no less, this recipe was a winner!

Pear Tart with Rum, Brown Butter, & Pecans

For the tart shell:

• 6 T. butter, room temperature
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 c. flour
• 1/8 tsp. salt

For the tart:

• 3 eggs
• 1/4 c. flour
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 3 T. dark rum
• 10 T. butter, cut into pieces
• 1/2 c. pecans, toasted and chopped
• 3 pears
• 2 T. brown sugar
• 1 T. dark rum

1. The night before if you like- make your tart shell. Simply combine all ingredients in a food processor with blade attachment and mix just until they form a ball. (If mixture seems dry or is taking awhile to agglutinate, add a tsp of cold water at a time.
2. Press tart dough into 9″ tart pan, including up the sides.
3. Freeze for at least one hour, or overnight.
4. Preheat oven to 375F (190C).
5. Prick tart base all over with a fork and bake for 7 minutes.
6. Check to see if tart has puffed up, if it has continue to prick with fork.
7. Bake another 7 minutes.
8. Allow to cool fully.

For the tart filling

1. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, flour, sugar, vanilla, and 3 T. of the rum.
2. In a skillet, warm the butter over low heat. Cover with a splatter guard and allow to sputter and spit until it reaches the color of maple syrup and smells a bit toasty.
3. Pour the butter through a sieve (to collect any burnt bits) into the bowl of custard mixture, whisking quickly.
4. Stir in pecans.
5. Refrigerate about one hour to thicken.
6. Prepare the pears by slicing thinly and marinating them with the brown sugar and additional 1 T. of rum. Allow to sit for 15 minutes, tossing occasionally.
7. Preheat oven to 375F (190C).
8. To assemble, arrange the pears in circles or a nice design. Pour custard mixture over the pears.
9. Place tart pan on a baking sheet and bake until browned, approximately 25 minutes.
10. Allow to cool fully and remove the tart pan sides. Serve with ice cream if desired.