Reviewed: Oct. 24, 2009

I loved this recipe! The pastry came out perfect, I am surprised at the reviewers who had troubles with getting it right. I am thinking about using this as a pie crust as well - my family and I loved it! It was nice and flaky, it came out of the tart pan without any trouble, it did not stick at all -- and I did not grease the pan at all or prepared it in any way. The cardamom gave the filling a great subtle taste. Slightly different then allspice, worth using it if available. I added one extra pear, drained the fruits before tossing with spices and sugar (I upped the corn starch a bit to compensate) and it was perfect. This tart will be on all my festive dinner tables from now on. Thanks for a great recipe!

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Gaby

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Miami, Florida, USA

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Reviewed: Oct. 14, 2009

This is the kind of dessert found in quality European patisseries. I used 2 pears and 1 1/2 granny smith apples. It's very important to slice the fruit very thin. Unless you are lucky enough to own a mandolin, this step is tricky and takes time. It might be a good idea to slice an extra pear or apple to have a choice of the best shaped pieces. I added slightly more corn starch to make sure that the filling wouldn't be runny. Laying the fruit in a pretty way isn't really difficult and is something that with practice will only get better. Cardamom is a spice I hadn't used before. I found it's addition subtly added an unusual and interesting flavour. Using a tart pan with a removable bottom will best show off all of your hard work and makes it so easy to serve. I may tinker with the pastry to improve it, but that could just be me. I'm still toiling away to better any pastry I make. Give yourself time to put this tart together. Your patience will be rewarded. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe.

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CYNJNE

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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Reviewed: Oct. 14, 2009

Wonderful, and I'm officially going to start adding cardamom to my apple pies now as well. I spaced on the orange juice and didn't have any on hand, so I tossed the fruit with a 50/50 mix of pure lemon juice and water--anxious to try to again with oj and see if it alters the taste. I did add more fruit--2 gala apples and 2 Bosc pears--also anxious to try different varieties. Oddly enough, I tried this recipe to use the 2 pears before they spoiled, but it looks like I'll be running out for more pears since this didn't last long at all;)

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Miss Whimsie

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Reviewed: Oct. 12, 2009

This was good. I made it free-form and put the apples in the crust, then folded up the edges, then poured the rest of the sauce in (so it wouldn't spill). The top apples got a little dry, so I put the apricot jam on top and then baked it the last 10 minutes. I had trouble with the crust. It was just falling apart, so I added a little bit of water until it just barely stuck together before refrigerating. (I'm not sure if that is the right thing to do)

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MBSP96

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

Living In: Boulder, Colorado, USA

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Reviewed: Oct. 11, 2009

As it stands, this is a pretty terrible recipe. The crust is flavorlessand needs sugar. The orange juice is weird and it makes everything runny. The two stars are because it was absolutely beautiful and I liked the apricot jam idea. I'll use that with a different recipe.

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Stefani

Cooking Level: Professional

Living In: Seattle, Washington, USA

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Reviewed: Oct. 11, 2009

Flavor of this tart is good. I used Bartlett Pears and I think they may be juicier than some other pears so it didn't set up well. Used 2 pears and 2 apples. Wouldn't use any less. Maybe should have upped the cornstarch since I used more fruit. Crust was tasty but at first it doesn't seem like it is coming together. Keep working with it. Does not work well in free form, the juice runs everywhere. So moved it to a tart pan.

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olson

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Reviewed: Oct. 8, 2009

1/2 cup cream cheese = 4 oz. (or half of an 8 oz. brick) The first time I made this I made the mistake of using 8 oz of cream cheese which makes too much dough. The second time I got it right, but the crust isn't as tender as I was hoping for. I added a pinch of salt and also 1-2 T of cold water to the dough to get it to form a ball. The filling has very good flavor. I needed to bake this about 10 min. longer than stated. Also 1/4 cup jam is plenty to thickly coat the top of the tart.

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COOKIN4MYFAMILY

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Conifer, Colorado, USA

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Reviewed: Sep. 28, 2009

I liked this but made some alterations. I did not have cardamom so I added some allspice and a little extra cinnamon. I think if I were to make this again I would reduce the orange juice slightly. I wasn't crazy about the flavor it created. I would possibly add another pear. The apples seemed to over power the pears. Otherwise simple tasty recipe would make again.

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jmama307

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Reviewed: Sep. 23, 2009

Awesome!! made the free form one cuz i don't have a tart pan. Just don't leave the dough in the fridge for too long cuz then it gets too hard. Didn't have cardamon so i used mace spice. still tasted great. had to bake for an extra 10 minutes but i'm using an oven in China so that might be the reason why.

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madsniper9

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Reviewed: Sep. 8, 2009

Very easy, I made a few changes, used 4 small apples and 3 pears, I let the fruit marinade in the OJ with the spices and then I drained the sauce before putting it in the dough. The first time I made this I did not drain and the liquid seeped thru the crust and burned. Delicious !!!

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CHRISKG

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Reviewed: Sep. 7, 2009

wow! this was SOOOO easy and SOOOO amazing! I am not sure what the other readers were doing but the amount of dough was fine for me - could've used more even?

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CarrieMcK

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Reviewed: Jun. 8, 2009

Very nice tart. I made one crust out of half the dough--not really on purpose, but it did seem like a lot of dough. I can definitely use the remainder of the dough in something else; it just surprised me. I didn't have apples so I subbed peaches and I accidently added 1/3 c oj instead of 1/4 c, which made it more custardy. It was still pretty good, though. I forgot the apricot jam but I love the blending of the flavors. Thanks for the recipe!

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pomplemousse

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Pendleton, Oregon, USA

Living In: Dumfries, Virginia, USA

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Reviewed: Apr. 26, 2009

This was a very nice recipe. I wasn't crazy about the crus but was very tasty otherwise.

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Jacqui

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Stettler, Alberta, Canada

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Reviewed: Feb. 23, 2009

This was very good and pretty. I used reduced fat cream cheese, 1 1/2 large Fuji apples, 1 Bosc pear, low-acid orange juice (the only kind we drink), and had to substitute 1/8 tsp cinnamon and 1/8 teaspoon chai spice mix for the cardamom (I could not find it at the base commissary). I used Trader Joe's preserves. I served it with Breyer's Homemade Vanilla ice cream. I would have given the recipe 5 stars, but the cook time was off (and my oven is very accurate); I had to cook it 45 minutes. Also, I used a tart pan and the crust stuck around the edges. It definitely needed to be lightly greased. I'm not sure if refrigerating the dough was a necessary step. The dough was not sticky and appeared easy to work with, but I did refrigerate it for an hour and it was extremely stiff. I found the dessert to be very sweet and rich. I will definitely make this again.

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Cook4mycrew

Cooking Level: Expert

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Reviewed: Feb. 17, 2009

Great recipe the entire family enjoyed. Pretty easy also!! The pastry was so wonderful would also be great for a pie. Made my tart free form. Served with vanilla bean ice cream. What a great comfort food dessert!!

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CCGAL628

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Reviewed: Dec. 2, 2008

My family loved this but we made it into a pie instead. I used double the pastry recipe and double the tart recipe and added to a pie dish and baked as I would a pie until done. It was a little more tart than I care for but very good. I would probably increase sugar to reduce tartness (I used 6 Granny Smith apples to make the pie) or use different type of apples. I will definitely make again as it was very good and theres not a bite left after the 2nd day :) Thank you so much. The pastry is very easy to make in the food processor.

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BarbB

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Harts, West Virginia, USA

Living In: Dexter, Michigan, USA

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Reviewed: Nov. 22, 2008

this is absolutely delicious. my main purpose in making this was to try out my new jar of cardamom (i had never tried it before, but i am intrigued by this spice). the spices in this recipe blend together so well. nice presentation also.

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tahoegirl

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA

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Reviewed: Nov. 13, 2008

Fast, Easy, Fantastic!!!

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FUNNYFARM319

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Cedar Hill, Texas, USA

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Reviewed: Nov. 10, 2008

My first tort and it was awesome...the wife and kids all think I am amazing.. thank you.

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Sam

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Reviewed: Nov. 4, 2008

This recipe is so good! The cardamom really makes it, and to really get the best taste, serve it warm with a little vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. Also, I took the advice of the last reviewer and spread a thin layer of almond filling on the dough before layering on the fruit. It is subtle, but it goes very well with all of te flavors.

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