Autumn pear & chocolate tart pie or holiday cookies (add pics)

Seasonal pears, dark dark chocolate with the highest cocoa butter content (75-80%) in a lovely delicious brown sugar tart crust.

Crust:

2 1/4 c sifted cake flour
1 3/4 c salted butter, room temp cubed
3/4 c sugar (Tate & Lyle super fine, mixed with basic brown sugar)
half tsp baking powder, dash flaked salt
2 whole eggs
grated peel of an orange (super finely grated)
plus JUST ENOUGH of the juice of the orange to bind the rest of the ingredients (the fresh juice gives a superior flavour to the crust!)

Mix the ingredients as for any pastry crust, mixing as little as possible! Keep cold, chill before baking! Press the crust into the pie pan, CHILL in the fridge, before baking in a preheated 350F oven for about 10 minutes, just til it is barely cooked. Add whatever filling you like. My faves:


- pear and dark chocolate
-chocolate or vanilla cream
-banana cream
-chess
-chestnut cream
-lemon meringue
-cherry
-pecan
-pumpkin

* If I don´t use this recipe, I use Martha Stewart´s pate brisee recipe made with orange zest and enough of the fresh juice of the orange to bind the ingredients. Keep all ingredients, including the juice, cold and it helps the crust taste better with a better texture! Flaky perfect.

* Variation, with either crust: roll out like a cookie dough, gently and as little rolling out as possible. Use knife or cookie cutters, to cut shapes. Brush with eggwash, sprinkle with coloured sugars for holiday cookies (halloween, Christmas, Easter etc)

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