Since everything is haywire this Thanksgiving, I’m opting for something other than the normal pie trifecta (pumpkin, apple, pecan) for dessert. Not that I don’t love pie trifecta – I do! – I’m just missing my Mom and the things she used to make with me. This Pear and Almond tart was one of her signature desserts.
I dug this recipe out of a 6-inch folder she kept with newspaper and magazine cut-outs. It’s a 1975 Sunset recipe that she adapted with all of her little notes and scribbles on it. Just seeing her handwriting…
I remember making this with her when I was little. I loved eating the tart dough because it was sweet with lemon zest and I loved poaching the pears because they were sweet with lemon zest and I loved whipping the cream cheese filling because it was sweet with lemon zest too!
This is a very simple recipe, but there is something so perfectly balanced between the lemony sugar shell, poached pears and not-too-sweet almond cream cheese filling. The lemons, almonds and pears really are their own trifecta of deliciousness.
I made this with Layla today. She loved it too! Every part of it, just like me when I was a kid. I think this might be a new tradition for our family. Or really, just an old one revisited and remembered with love.
Happy Thanksgiving friends! And P.S. the pear poaching liquid is excellent for Champagne cocktails!
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