What to bake this weekend: Pear tart with date and ginger caramel

This delicious dessert contains lots of good-for-you ingredients. Pears and dates contain soluble fibre, which helps to improve digestion, so poached or stewed fruit can aid heartburn, indigestion and reflux. The tart is also gluten-free, with healthy fats and no refined sugar. Just add a spoon of gut-loving probiotic Greek-style yoghurt and enjoy!

Pear tart with date and ginger caramel
Serves 6

Ingredients

• 4 pears, halved and cored (unripe Conference pears work best)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 220g almonds
• 220g walnuts
• 1 tsp pink Himalayan salt
• 1½ tbsp olive oil
• 1 large thumb of ginger, sliced
• 4 whole star anise
• 1 tsp raw cane sugar
• 125ml water
• 2 tsp vanilla paste or essence
• 385g date and ginger caramel

 

1 Preheat the oven to 180°C.

2 Place the pear halves face down in a medium to large pot. Cover with water, add a teaspoon of vanilla extract and put a lid on. Bring the water to a boil, then immediately turn the heat down low. Let the pears simmer gently for 10 minutes, or until they are soft (but not falling apart).

3 Remove the pears with a slotted spoon and leave to cool. Once cool, slice each pear half lengthways and set aside until you are ready to assemble the tart.

4 Make the base by putting the nuts into the food processor and blitzing until they resemble breadcrumbs. Slowly add the salt and olive oil while continuing to blitz the nuts. Turn off the food processor and test to see if the mixture sticks when pressed together between your fingers. If not, slowly add more oil – but be careful: it can get very oily very quickly.

5 When you are happy with the consistency, spoon the mix into a 22cm (9in) loose-bottomed cake tin and press down firmly. Put in the oven for 5–8 minutes until lightly brown and you can smell the nuts roasting. Remove and allow to cool, then place in the fridge to firm up.

6 Make a ginger glaze by putting the ginger slices, star anise and raw cane sugar in a small pot with the water. Place on a high heat and bring to the boil. The goal is to infuse the water with the ginger and star anise and reduce it to syrup. After 15–20 minutes, remove from the heat and add a good quality vanilla bean paste or essence. Store any leftover glaze in a small glass Kilner jar in the fridge.

7 To assemble the tart, remove the base from the fridge and carefully open the tin by releasing the sides. Spread your date and ginger caramel on the base, then arrange the poached pears on top in whichever pattern you like. 

8 Spoon over some of the ginger glaze and serve with a dollop of Greek-style natural yoghurt and some cocoa powder. This tart will keep for 3–4 days in the fridge.

 

Date and ginger caramel
Makes 386g

This is great as a topping for porridge, with yoghurt and granola, or as part of a dessert. Dates are very high in fibre and antioxidants, while ginger is a natural anti-inflammatory food. This will keep well for a couple of weeks in an airtight container in the fridge.

Ingredients

• 25–30g ginger, peeled and chopped
• into small chunks
• 300g dates, pitted

 

1 Blitz the ginger in a high-speed blender with the dates (and soaking water, if using regular dates rather than Medjool, as these will need to be pre-soaked).

2 Scrape down the sides of the blender and blitz again. Repeat this a few times until you have a paste.

3 Adjust the flavour with more ginger if desired.

 

The Menopause Kitchen by Rachel Graham is published by Gill Books and is available now.