With Thanksgiving, came the opportunity to attempt making a new dessert. I wanted to make something that featured seasonal fruits. Pears are something I've been thinking about working with for a while now, so I started flipping through my cook books and magazines in search of a dessert that featured pears and found a pie recipe with pears and figs in the starring roles...score!
The recipe also calls for a hazelnut crust. Making a pie crust dough would be a first for me and I've heard numerous stories about how finicky pie crusts can be. Plus, I knew that I would not have time to test out the recipe before Thanksgiving. So, naturally, a list of concerns started growing in my head...over baked crust, soggy crust, overly sweet filling, unbalanced flavors...and the list goes on. Luckily, the cook book (Bon Appétit Desserts: The Cook Book for All Things Sweet and Wonderful) that the recipe is from also included a troubleshooting guide for pies. With this guide to ease some of my concerns and Bon Appétit's reputation for delicious recipes, I dove right into the pie making.
Surprisingly, the preparation and process was fairly simple, resulting in a great tasting pie. I thought the crust could have been stronger in flavor, but it browned nicely and had a crisp exterior while maintaining a flaky, tender interior. Visions of the dough tearing and sticking were running through my mind, but it turned out to be much easier to roll out than anticipated. Not a single tear, but there were a couple of spots that lightly stuck to my rolling surface. The crust on its own had a great nutty flavor. Unfortunately, it was so weak in flavor, that it was overpowered and masked by the filling's combination of pears, figs, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Next time, I think I'll do some research to see how I can boost the hazelnut flavor without compromising the texture of the crust. See the recipe after the pics :)
Crust:
½ cup hazelnuts (toasted, husked, and cooled)
4 ½ teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 ½ cups unbleached all purpose flour
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into ¼-inch cubes
4 tablespoons (or more) ice water
1. Finely grind nuts, sugar and salt in processor.
2. Blend in flour.
3. Add butter, using on/off turns. Cut in until butter is reduced to rice-sized pieces.
4. Blend in 4 tablespoons of ice water. Add in more ice water by teaspoonfuls until dough comes together in moist clumps.
5. Gather dough into a ball and divide in half.
6. Flatten each half into disks. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 45 minutes
**Crust can be made 1 day ahead, but keep it chilled. Let soften slightly at room temperature before rolling.
Filling:
1 cup dried black Mission figs (stemmed and quartered)
½ cup sugar
2 tablespoons unbleached all purpose flour
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
2 ¼ lbs pears (peeled, quartered, cored, and thinly sliced)
1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Combine figs, sugar, flour, lemon juice, and lemon peel in a large bowl.
3. Add pears to fig mixture and toss to blend.
4. Roll out 1 dough disk on lightly floured surface to 12-inch round.
5. Transfer to 9-inch diameter glass pie dish
6. Fill crust with pear mixture.
7. Roll out another 12-inch round with the second dough disk.
8. Place on top of filled pie and trim crust overhang to ½-inch.
9. Press the top and bottom crust together and fold under.
10. Crimp crust edge decoratively.
11. Cut several slits in top crust to allow steam to escape during baking.
12. Bake for 20 minutes
13. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.
14. Continue to bake until juices bubble thickly through slits and crust is golden (about 50 minutes).
15. Cool pie on rack for 45 minutes.
16. Serve warm or at room temperature.
My Notes: I found the quartered figs to be too large and overpowering in flavor. Try cutting them into sixths or eighths. Also, be sure to let the pie cool as directed, or longer. This will allow the filling to set. Otherwise, you may end up with a filling that will ooze all over the plate, or the slice may fall apart as you are plating.
I cant wait to make!
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