This luscious pear tart has three delectable parts: a homemade shortbread crust, a rich pastry cream, and a topping of sliced pears that caramelize in the oven with the help of a touch of brown sugar.  This is not just any shortbread crust mind you—the addition of a bag of your favorite black tea gives a slight spiciness to the crust that is irresistibly tasty.  The original pastry cream is flavored with vanilla paste, but having almond paste on hand I decided to make this an almond pastry cream instead.  What goes perfectly with an almond flavored cream? Slivered almonds of course.  Before baking the tart for the final time, I added slivered almonds on top of the thinly sliced pears for an extra buttery crunch.

 (To view this recipe, click on the following link: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/pear-tart-with-vanilla-cream-and-black-tea-crust)

Tagged: almond past, black tea, black tea crust, Bosc pears, dessert, fall, Food & Wine, fruit dessert, pastry cream, pear dessert, pear tart, pears, shortbread, slivered almonds, tart, vanilla cream