Pear Tart

Poached pears

1. Combine wine, sugar, lemon juice and zest, cinnamon, cloves, salt, and black peppercorns in a large saucepan.
2. Scrape seeds from the vanilla bean and add both to the saucepan.
3. Bring to a simmer while preparing the pears.
4. Halve, core and peel each pear, removing the stem and woody center piece.
5. Place the peeled pear halves in water with lemon juice to prevent browning while peeling.
6. When the liquid comes to a light boil, carefully place pears in poaching liquid. Turn down heat to low and cover, cooking pears until tender and pierce easily with a toothpick or skewer. Make sure to flip pears half-way through so they cook on both sides.
7. When the liquid comes to a light boil, carefully place pears in poaching liquid. Turn down heat to low and cover, cooking pears until tender and pierce easily with a toothpick or skewer. Make sure to flip pears half-way through so they cook on both sides.

Tart pastry (pâte sucrée)

1. Cut butter into small cubes. Whisk together egg yolk, whipping cream, and vanilla in a small bowl. 
2. Pulse flour, confectioner's sugar and salt in food processor 2 or 3 times until combined. 
3. Scatter butter over flour mixture and pulse about 20 times until it resembles fine crumbs.
4. Add the beaten egg mixture in a steady stream while pulsing the food processor just until dough comes together, about 15 seconds.
5. Place dough on a large sheet of plastic wrap and flatten into a disk. Refrigerate at least an hour and up to 48 hours.
6. Remove dough from fridge and unwrap, and place between two sheets of floured parchment paper. Roll dough into a 15" round. (if it's been chilling longer than 1 hour, allow it to come to room temperature until easy to roll).
7. Carefully roll pastry over the Rolling Pin, and place dough over tart pan and press dough into edges, trimming the top edge and using the excess dough to fill in any cracks or breaks.
8. Place tart pan on a baking sheet and freeze for 30 minutes.
9. Cover tart with lightly buttered aluminum foil and fill tart shell with Baking Weights. Par-bake tart crust on a large baking sheet at 375 degrees F. about 20 minutes or until light golden brown, rotating crust halfway through baking.
10. Remove weights and foil and allow crust to cool on a wire rack while preparing the filling.

Almond frangipane filling

1. Pulse slivered almonds, sugar, and salt in the food processor until very finely ground about 40-50 pulses.
2. Add egg and egg white, almond and vanilla flavorings pulsing to combine.
3. Add cubed butter and process until no lumps remain and filling is smooth. Scrape bottom and sides of bowl and pulse again until mixture is well blended.
4. The filling can be used immediately or well wrapped and refrigerated until ready to use. (if refrigerated for longer than 30 minutes allow the filling to come to room temperature before using)

Assembling the pear tart

1. Remove the pears from the poaching liquid and transfer onto a cutting board with paper towels to blot up excess liquid. 
2. Spread the frangipane over the baked tart shell.
3. Slice the pears horizontally. Transfer each sliced pear half with an off-set spatula and arrange them on the frangipane. 
4. Space the pear slices evenly, gently pressing into the filling.
5. Bake tart on baking sheet until crust is deep golden brown and firm to the touch, about 45 minutes. Rotate baking sheet halfway through.
6. Cool tart on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. While tart is cooling, make the apricot glaze.
7. Heat 1/4 cup apricot jam and 3 Tablespoons water in a small saucepan over medium heat, until jam is melted and any lumps disappear.
8. Using a pastry brush, brush the warm apricot jam over the pears and allow to cool completely before serving.
9. The tart is best if served the same day as it baked. Store any leftover tart well wrapped in the refrigerator.