caramelized pear square
guys! i made another recipe. crazy.
this one is reallllyyyyyy long overdue. i literally made it way back in may for mother’s day. oops hehe.
what really matters, though, is that we are here now and i have finally gotten around to typing it out and sharing it. you’re so welcome ;)
it was somewhat inspired by a pear frangipane tart… essentially i knew i wanted to make some sort of fresh-tasting square / tarty thing for my mum and i had some pears i needed to use up.
the recipe for the base of the tart is from this gluten-free & vegan chocolate tart recipe that i’ve used a few times now - it’s a STAPLE! so keep in mind that you can use this tart base for many things! versatility baby!! i had to adjust the measurements because my square dish was a bit smaller than what it’s made for - so forgive the odd numbers!
the “caramel” part is made up of dates and tahini - if you don’t like dates then you probably won’t like this dessert (thank you myles for your honesty). i personally love it so… to each their own ;)
and for the top layer, i made some caramelized pears & toasted pecans. that’s a bit of a strange part to this recipe; because the caramel doesn’t need to be baked (or else the sugars could burn), each element is made on their own, and they all come together in the end for a beautiful blissful tart! the upside of this is that the recipes for each of the three elements can be used on it’s own and turned into something else really yummy!
enough of my babbling!! let’s get into it :)
base:
preheat oven to 350 F
grease an 8x8 baking dish with coconut oil
in a food processor add:
1 cup + 2 tbsp oats
1/3 cup almonds
3 3/4 tbsp. coconut oil
1.5 tbsp honey
process all ingredients until well incorporated
press the “dough” into the dish and bake for 10-15 mins until golden brown
tahini-date caramel
soak 2 cups of dates in warm water for 10ish minutes. don’t dump the water!
add the dates to a food processor as well as:
1/3 cup tahini
2 tbsp date water (told ya)
a good pinch of salt
process these until a nice paste forms! set aside.
caramelized pear-topper
thinly slice one pear
melt 1/2 tbsp coconut oil in a medium skillet, once hot, add in:
pear slices
1 tbsp honey
1/4 cup pecans
a nice pinch-o-salt
(cinnamon would be nice too)
allow pears to get nice and caramelized, stirring occasionally. they should get golden brown and fragrant - feel free to taste test!
assemble!
this is the very easy & very fun part!
spread that caramel all nice over the base & arrange the pear slices & pecans however you like over top! i decided to layer them a bit and alternate the direction they face in each row :)
cut into squares, serve immediately, or store it in the fridge for later.
and that is all! bon appetit :)
