Since I’ve been so bad about TWD lately, I was guilted into making this week’s recipe, which would normally have been an easy pass. I don’t like fruit. I don’t like wine. And it has an insane number of steps.
But make it I did. (Guilt is a terrible thing.) I started at 5 p.m. on a Saturday night (well, actually, I started around 4:30 by shelling the pistachios; my thumbnails still hurt). I caramelized the pistachios. I made the pastry cream. I poached the pears. And at a bit after 9, I plopped the pears and their wine into a bain marie and went to bed, exhausted.
And the next day I still had to make the crust. And the sauce (which I cooked too long; it turned into taffy when cool). And slice the pears.
There are some recipes that are worth this much trouble. The Chocolate-Banded Ice Cream Torte was marvelous. (And not that hard, really — just time-consuming.) The Daring Bakers strudel was delicious.
This one? Eh. I didn’t even eat a whole piece. Family liked it it, but not enthusiastically. Husband thought the pears were tremendous, but didn’t think they melded well with the pastry cream. #2 Son liked the pastry cream a lot, but passed on the pears. (#1 Son isn’t here at the moment, and I forgot to ask him what he thought; update to come!)
Looked pretty, though, especially before it was cut.
This recipe was chosen for the TWD bloggers this week by Lauren of I’ll Eat You, and she’ll have the recipe for you to try yourself — if you dare. (Or you could buy Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, which is full of recipes that are much simpler than this one.) And check out what all the other TWDers did with it, too.
11 replies on “Tuesdays With Dorie: Rosy Poached Pear and Pistachio Tart”
It sure looks pretty – and very involved. I’m kind of glad I skipped it – I just pushed my guilt to the side!
Ciao ! I’m sorry you didn’t like it !! I gave it away before tasting it maybe I would have been less generous after !! Thanks for visiting !!
Your tart looks stunning! Beautiful job, even if you didnt love it. I didn’t have time to make this one–sounds like I saved myself hours of work!
Too bad it wasn’t a hit in your household after all that work. It does look beautiful, though!
It is a lovely tart; sorry that it wasn’t a favourite in your house. It was an awful lot of work!
Sounds like a lot of work! I skipped this one. Didn’t read the recipe, just the ingredients and since I didn’t have several of them, and didn’t have the money to go out to buy them, I made Dorie’s Blueberry pie instead. You tart looks wonderful.
Yeah, after reading all of the steps, I let my lazy side take over. Looks really pretty, though!
Your tart looks fantastic, good job pushing through. This one was really a lot to take on after a holiday. I enjoyed it, but there is little chance I’d make it again.
It looks beautiful- sorry it wasn’t a huge hit
That definitely does look great! But it did seem like too much RIGHT after Thanksgiving. I totally changed it up for me. I say–gimme some chocolate! 😉
[…] Realm, she takes the most awesome food photos! I especially like her photo of Dorie’s Rosy Poached Pear and Pistachio Tart. You can also find the recipe there too, but buy Dorie’s book already! Your tastebuds will be […]