Bartlett pears layered with almond filling. Creamy and delicious. Maybe not the winner of the state fair, but definitely a winner for me!
Last Thursday I participated in the state fair pie bake off. I didn't win, but I made a pie I liked and felt proud of. I am sure I will make it again. Fortunately, I have friends who tried it and told me that it was delicious. One even went so far as to say that it was one of the best pies she has ever had. Thank goodness for kind people when things don't quite turn out the way you hoped. I am really grateful for kind people.
This pie is a little different with the use of pears. I had the idea when I was in Oregon a couple of weeks ago visiting my parents. When I got there, I found boxes of pears in their basement. From the one tree they have, my dad had picked over 700 pears. Pretty crazy how many they had. I wanted to try making a pear syrup while I was there, but I didn't have time. I must have had pears on the brain when I got back because I started looking into flavors that went well with pears. I decided to try making the filling I used for the almond filled brioche rolls. I layered sliced pears with the almond filling. It turned out really delicious.
Pie Crust
1 ½ cups flour
½ cup shortening
½ teaspoon salt
ice water
Combine flour and salt in a medium bowl. Cut in shortening until small pebbles form.
Add 1/4 cup of the ice water. Stir together with a fork. If it's dry or still crumbly, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough comes together.
Divide dough into thirds. Roll out 2/3 of the dough and place in a pie plate. Roll out remaining third of the dough. Cut dough into strips.
Almond Filling
1 cup blanched sliced almonds
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoon flour
1 teaspoon cornstarch
6 tablespoon butter, softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
Place almonds in a food processor and process until fine. Add sugar and pulse 1-2 times. Add butter, flour and cornstarch and pulse again until crumbly. Add egg and vanilla. Pulse until smooth.
Assembly
4-6 Bartlett pears, peeled and sliced
Spread about 3 tablespoons of the almond filling in the bottom of the prepared pie crust. Place a layer of pears over the filling. Spread a thin layer of almond filling (about 1 tablespoon) over the pears. Repeat the process of layering the pears and adding a thin layer almond filling 3-4 more times.
Dollop the remaining almond filling over the top of the pie. Using the strips of pie dough create a lattice over the pie. Trim the edges of the pie dough and crimp edges. Brush the top of the crust with milk, and sprinkle sugar over the top.
Bake at 425 for 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 and bake another 20-25 minutes or until the pie is beginning to bubble. Cool at least one hour before serving.
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