Pear Almond Tart (Tarte Bourdaloue)

What Does Bourdaloue Mean?

Bourdaloue doesn't mean anything in French. Instead, this pear and almond tart gets its name from a Parisian street, rue Bourdaloue in Paris's 9th arrondissement.

To get to know the Parisian Bourdaloue Pear Tart better, I reached for Larousse Gastronomique. Translated into English it reads:

Bourdaloue is a tart invented by a pastry chef in Paris's Rue Bourdaloue during la Belle Epoque - composed of poached Pear Williams, drowned in a vanilla frangipane cream, covered in broken macarons and finally glazed in the oven.

Larousse Gastronomique

Who was Bourdaloue in Paris?

As the streets in Paris are mainly named after famous personalities in French history, it's always interesting to look up the street names themselves.

So who was Bourdaloue? Louis Bourdaloue was a French preacher - so eloquent, sharp and popular amongst all classes that King Louis XIV ensured he booked him to preach from the pulpit at the court of Versailles.

What's in a Bourdaloue Tart?

These above words for the tart's definition, "drowned in a vanilla frangipane cream" has me glazed over myself. But who knew it was also traditionally covered in broken macarons?

All versions I see from this tart in Paris patisseries are covered simply in slivered almonds. I'm not keen on breaking macarons - perhaps for a macaron tiramisu - so let's top with some shells. Now for the tart!

The frangipane cream filling is often made using a mix of both an almond cream and crème patissière (pastry cream). While this is absolutely delicious, for this recipe I prefer cutting corners: I skip the pastry cream step and make an easy almond cream adding a dash of good, dark Jamaican rum.

I'm sure the pears won't mind being drowned in that. After many tastings of the tart in Paris and trying it out at home, I'm happy with this version.

Just after I took these photos in the pear-fect street of Rue Bourdaloue in Paris's 9th arrondissement, I bit into this tartlet. The filling fell straight out of the soggy base.

Frankly for the price, it was disappointing and not the freshest of pastries that day.  It can happen but it's incentive at times to make homemade - even in Paris!

What Kind of Pears are Used for the Bourdaloue Tart?

The kind of pears used for a pear and almond tart is pretty flexible. As from Larousse, I've made this tart using Williams, Comice and Conference. (These are also good for poaching pears from scratch - see this recipe for Poached Pears in Coffee and Vanilla for the method).

I've even tried using fresh pears (e.g. Bosc pears) without the pre-poaching: just act quickly and sprinkle with some lemon juice to prevent them turning brown but it's a bit risky and you have to work fast.

So pick pears that are not yet ripe but not brick hard either. Slightly soft yet firm is perfect.

This recipe, however, is based on the one in the Larousse French Book of Desserts, which uses tinned pears in syrup. If Pierre Hermé can do it in his recipe version, I don't feel too bad at cutting corners here with tinned! It's so much easier and just as tasty (incidentally, this is a rare occasion when tinned works well).

However, if you're following a professional pastry diploma like the French CAP Patisserie, then you wouldn't use tinned pears. After baking the tart, mix an egg yolk with water and brush it on to the pastry sides and bake for a further couple of minutes. Then you'd make a fancy nappage glaze to polish it all off.

Can Pear and Almond Tart Be Frozen?

Pear and almond tart can keep for a day at room temperature or for up to 3 days if stored covered in the fridge.

It also freezes well. Consume within 6 weeks, as otherwise it loses its lovely flavours.

How to Make a Parisian Bourdaloue Tart

However, for this easier recipe, just brush with about 4 tablespoons of slightly warmed apricot jam after the tart comes out of the oven.

Pie Crust: I recommend making your own tart pastry. Just follow the recipe for pâte sucrée with ground almonds in the base. There's no need to blind bake it, as long as you chill the pastry first. If you're short for time, use ready-made shortcrust pastry (pâte sablée).

So next time you roll your French tongue around Bourdaloue, think pear and almond tart, Louis the preacher, and the street named after him where the pastry was created in the 1900s in the 9th arrondisement.

More Almond Desserts and Cakes

• Try the (gâteau de) Saint Germain Almond Cake (like the Bourdaloue tart without the pear);
• the Reine de Saba - a French moist chocolate almond cake;
• Almond Tart with Strawberries;
• Moist Almond and Lemon Cake (gluten free);
• Financiers (almond teacakes);
• French Apple Tart with Nougat.

How to Serve

This tart is also delicious served with vanilla ice cream. But for something different, try lemon verbena ice cream - discovered recently on our road-trip holiday in a restaurant in Narbonne.

Love almond tarts? Try the gâteau Saint-Germain, an almond tart/cake speciality with rum from just outside Paris.