Cashew Crème Pear Tart
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Imagine delicately spiced pears cooked until just fork tender, sitting atop a luscious pillow of maple-scented cashew crème, all contained within a soft, nutty crust. Sound like a dream? Well wake up, because this delight is easily a reality! This is one amazing finish to any meal, sure to please all palates and diets alike. Not only is it gluten-free, utilizing almond flour and cornmeal for an unconventional press-in-pan crust, but this tart can also be adapted for low-sugar diets. Simply omit the granulated sugar in the pear topping and crust with more almond meal. The only danger of serving a dessert suitable for all stripes of eaters is that everyone will want more than just one serving! You might be wise to save yourself a slice before presenting this grand finale to a crowd, as the likelihood of leftovers by the end of the night will be slim to none.
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: French
Serves: 8 to 10 servings
Ingredients
Crust
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar or coconut sugar
  • 1 cup almond flour or almond meal
  • ¼ cup yellow cornmeal
  • ¼ cup chickpea flour
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ cup vegan butter or coconut oil
  • 1–2 tablespoons water
Cashew Crème
  • 1½ cups raw cashews, soaked for 4–6 hours and drained
  • ⅓ cup plain non-dairy milk
  • ¼ cup maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pear Topping
  • 2 firm, medium-sized pears
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ cup sliced almonds, for garnish
Instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 325ºF (160ºC).
  2. Combine the sugar, almond flour or meal, cornmeal, chickpea flour, and salt in a medium bowl. Melt the butter or coconut oil and pour it in, along with the water. Stir to combine all the dry ingredients and press this mixture firmly into a lightly grease 9-inch round tart pan with a removable bottom. Bake for 10 minutes and let cool, leaving the oven on.
  3. In a blender or food processor, begin blending the soaked cashews, non-dairy milk, maple syrup, and vanilla. Once the nuts are mostly broken down, crank up your machine to high speed and thoroughly puree. It may take 5 to 10 minutes for the mixture to become completely smooth, so don’t stop short. Pause as needed to scrape down sides of the container with your spatula to ensure that there are no lumps. Smooth the resulting crème into your crust and set aside.
  4. Peel, core, and thinly slice the pears. Toss the slices with the sugar and cinnamon to evenly coat. Arrange them in an overlapping spiral on top of the cashew crème layer. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the pears are fork-tender. Let cool and sprinkle with sliced almonds before serving.
Notes
Pear Note: Any leftover pear slices that don’t quite fit on top of your tart shouldn’t be destined for the compost, but could top a thick slice of toast! Bake them in any small oven-safe dish for 10 to 15 minutes until fork tender. Let cool for a few minutes before piling on top of a buttered slice of toast, and enjoy for snack or breakfast. If you want to get real fancy, go all out and slather it with cream cheese first and top it with chopped hazelnuts.

Credit: This recipe is reprinted with permissions from Sweet Vegan Treats: 90 Recipes for Cookies, Brownies, Cakes, and Tarts by Hannah Kaminsky.
Recipe by Go Dairy Free at https://www.godairyfree.org/recipes/vegan-cashew-creme-pear-tart