Pear and Almond Pastries- family favourite recipes

/ karen

It’s been a bumper year for fruit. There’s crates of pears in the spare room, and little piles of rosy red apples all along the windowsills. The whole house smells like pear and apple crumble! I’ve never managed to reach the top of the fruit trees before. Our old ladders were too wobbly. But this year I’ve a fabulous new addition to the garden- a Henchman tripod ladder. It’s made everything easier – and safer. All the best, tastiest fruit- always at the top of the tree- has been harvested. This year, more than ever, it feels as if nothing should be wasted. Spare fruit has been distributed to friends and family in little paper bags. Damaged, over-ripe fruit has been enjoyed by hedgehogs and blackbirds, so wildlife has not been forgotten either.

One of our favourite autumn recipes is Pear and Almond Pastries. As usual, just a few ingredients are needed, and the little parcels of tasty pears only take minutes to make. Have a go at making them, and let me know how you get on.

INGREDIENTS

1 pack of ready rolled puff pastry

3 or 4 ripe pears

1 tbsp dark brown sugar

3 tbsp ground almonds

1 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2tbsp flaked almonds for the top

1 egg, beaten (optional- use almond milk for vegans)

Icing sugar for dusting (optional)

Baking tray with baking paper or silicone sheet.

190C oven 15-20 minutes

METHOD

Unroll the pastry and cut into squares. Lay them on the baking tray.

Peel and halve the pears. Place slices on top of the pastry squares.

In a bowl, mix the sugar, ground almonds, ground cloves, cinnamon together. Pile spoonfuls of the mixture on top of the pears.

Take the corners of the pastry and draw them together to make a rough parcel. The pastries will stretch and turn out all shapes, and it doesn’t matter. They will still taste the same.

Brush the top with beaten egg (or almond milk) and sprinkle over the flaked almonds.

Cook in a preheated oven for 15 -20 minutes. Check them after 10 minutes to see how brown they are. The pastries will be ready when they are risen and light brown. They burn easily, so keep an eye on them. 20 minutes might be too long for fast ovens. Dust with icing sugar, if you have some.

Can be eaten cold or warm. Can be frozen for 3 months. Delicious with clotted cream, or custard. We also love them with home-made vanilla icecream.

Thanks for reading. Have a great gardening week and keep in touch.

Links: Henchman ladders https://www.henchman.co.uk/

Fruit trees: Six Acre Nursery, Costock, Leicestershire.

Silicone sheets are reusable from http://www.kitchenrangecookshop.com/

Photos above show two packets of puff pastry.

29 thoughts on “Pear and Almond Pastries- family favourite recipes”

  1. You have made me hungry!!
    Definitely going to try these!! 😊
    I always find it interesting that although there are so many different varieties of pear to choose from its nearly always Conference we choose to cook with!!
    Which pears are your favourites?

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    • Thank you Vanessa. Let me know how you get on. Very simple recipe and takes no time at all. Conference pears seem to have the best flavour. The Concorde ones ripen a little bit later here. Beth is delicious for about five minutes, then they have gone over. Thanks for reading my blog. Have a great day! Karen x

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  2. Pingback: February Recipes : Pear and Almond Pastries | Bramble Garden

  4. Karen thank you very much for your advice on how to eat. I eat the same as before and I have an appetite: I eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the same as before and the same amounts and the same things. I think that my nerves have given me to lose weight. Meg is loving with Monty sleeping with her in her bed. They are the three musketeers and with Monty be very careful because on the walk appearing in the middle of the town along the grass path could have gotten lost. You do very well to leave him in the kitchen. Thank you very much for your kind words my dear friend. Much love and take good care of you all. Very affectionate greetings from Margarita xxx 😘😘🙏🌼🌼🌻🌼🥰💛

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  5. First, the Henchman Ladders are a very interesting design. Who would have though that three-legged inverted curves could be as stable as their site describes. Did you use it on bumpy surfaces?

    The tarts look scrumptious. Just one question though, how big should we cut the squares?

    x

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    • Thanks for reading, yes, I had the ladder in the orchard where there’s lots of molehills. It was nicely stable. Not a good year for falling off a ladder, I decided! So I didn’t take any risks. I managed to do all the summer pruning safely too, so the trees , for once, look well cared for. Usually it’s a job I put off. With the ready rolled puff pastry, I cut the sheet into six squares. I’ve managed to add a few more photos on there now. For some reason WP wouldn’t let me add more last week.

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  6. Karen, I am very happy about the great harvest of pears and apples this year. There has been for everyone: friends, family, wildlife and you have a lot of fruit in storage. The new ladder has been a good investment. Karen the cakes look very very appetizing and are easy to make. Thank you for sharing your family’s recipes. I love your pear tree full of pears: it makes me want to pick up a pear and eat it, with what I like! In the news I have seen that they are going to confine you at home for a while, courage, do not be defeated! Hopefully it helps to greatly lower Covid throughout the United Kingdom. Your friends now are Grace, Meg and Monty, you will be very busy with them. Make your corner in the Shed and read gardening books. Take the opportunity to imagine changes and possible new plantings in your garden: flowers for wildlife or a small meadow of wild flowers.
    A lot of health, a lot of strength, positive thinking, a lot of hope and a lot of love for your whole family, Mr B and for you. Happy gardening. Hugs. I wish you all the best and much love. Very affectionate greetings from Margarita xxx😘😘🙏🌼🌼🌼

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    • Thank you Margarita. The ladder has been so useful this summer. I’ve managed to prune the fruit trees properly for the first time ever. Before the trees were just too tall for me to risk it. I’m bringing the ladders into the potting shed now, and re-organising all my shelves. All along the back of the shed there are industrial shelving. I’ve cleaned and stacked all my terracotta pots for the winter and I’m working my way along sorting everything out. I’m keeping busy. It is the only way. Time will fly by. Meg, Monty and Grace are my constant companions with little cardboard box beds under the potting bench. Monty is very naughty and gets into everything and under my feet. But he is such a loving little kitten, I can’t be cross with him. Thanks for your kind words. Sending positive thinking snd strength back to you In return. Affectionate greetings from us all. Love from karen xxx 😘💛🙏🌻🌼🌻🌼 xxx

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      • Karen I am very glad that the new ladder is so useful: pruning the fruit trees, placing the terra cotta pots on the top of the shed, I love it. And your “three musketeers”, Grace, Meg and Monty, always accompanying you and doing things with you: I love them very much. Monty is a puppy who is discovering things and will stir everything, but he has to be adorable and if he is very affectionate when he grows up he will be a calm and wonderful cat: now it’s time to forgive him everything. The three of them in their cardboard beds, how funny. You do very well to keep busy to forget about everything. I have lost a lot since the operation eating the same thing and lost my strength. I am very nervous. In the afternoons I entertain myself reading or with the computer watching your blogs that I have not commented and those of the two Cathys. Much encouragement and much strength and hope and much love for Mr B and for you. Take good care of both of you. Very affectionate greetings from Margarita xxx 😘😉🙏🐈🐈🐕😘😘🌼🌼🌼

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      • Thank you Margarita. I’m sure you can picture the scene in the potting shed. We had a rumpus today when the kitten tried to get in the bed with Meg! I expect it was warm. Eventually Meg let her in and they curled up together. Meg is so good with the naughty kitten. We set off for a walk before tea, and turned round to see the kitten running along the grass verge, half way to the village. I scooped him up and carried him home down the front of my coat. Now, we are making sure he is left in the kitchen whenever we go for a walk- in case he gets lost so far from home. They really are just like the three musketeers! I lost a lot of weight when I was ill with the sepsis three years ago. Try to eat lots of small meals, that’s what I did. I had breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, afternoon tea and then supper. As I got weaker, my appetite reduced and it was difficult to eat normal size meals. But by having five meals, I managed to put some weight back and regain strength. Also we had milk shakes which came from the doctors. And lots of soup, which was easy to eat. Try your best to vary your diet and try my idea of eating lots of small meals. I, too am reading a lot of books. This time will pass and we will really appreciate everything all the more. Sending very affectionate greetings with lots of encouragement and love. Take care. Lots of love. Karen xxx 💛👍🌼🥰🌼🙏 xxx

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    • Thank you Cathy. I’ve worked out the problem with the photos. I looked in settings, under WordPress, and the access for photos was turned off. I don’t know how that happened! *sigh. Hope you are having a good week. I’m making chocolate biscuits and fruit cake. Concentrating on the little things. I can’t do much about the big things happening right now. Xx

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    • Oh that’s a shame. Oh, I really wish you could. I’m starting to miss everyone now. Been busy all summer in the garden. Now stuck indoors, starting to miss my catch up with friends and family. Not an easy time for any on]f us. Take care xx 😘

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