Best 3 A Pastry Partridge In A Red Pear Tree Recipes

A PASTRY PARTRIDGE IN A RED PEAR 'TREE'

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Unfold pie crust. With a small bird cookie cutter or with a sharp knife cut out shape of a small bird. Cut out at least 8-10 birds incase of breakage. Put on a small baking sheet, brush with milk and sprinkle with the coarse sugar and bake for 7-9 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool completely. Set aside.
• 2. Pour cran-raspberry juice into a heavy deep 3-4 quart pot. Add 3/4 cup of the sugar & red food coloring. Stir. Put on stove and bring to a boil.
• 3. Peel and core the pears leaving the stem intact. Add the pears and simmer covered, turning occasionally for 10 to 15 minutes or until just tender. If necessary put a heavy small bowl or dish on top of pears to keep pears under the liquid.
• 4. Transfer pears to a plate or bowl and put in the freezer for 20 minutes if serving immediately. If serving later in the day just refrigerate until ready to use.
• 5. Put small serving plates in freezer or refrigerator to chill. In small saucepan put the package of defrosted raspberries. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar. In a small cup mix cornstarch with 1 cup of the cranraspberry juice the pears were cooked in. Add to raspberries and stir and cook until thickened. Remove from heat and pour into a small dish. Chill.
• 6. In a bowl whip cream. Set aside. In a small bowl put cream cheese, raspberry extract and powdered sugar and mix until well blended. Carefully fold cream cheese mixture into whipped cream until blended.
• 7. Cut a small slice off the bottom of the pear to get it to stand up. Fill a pastry bag or a heavy freezer ziplock bag with whipped cream mixture. Pipe cream cheese mixture into hole of pear where core was and fill. Chill pears.
• 8. When ready to serve drizzle hot fudge in a zig zag back and forth manner across each individual small chilled plate. Put a chilled pear in center of each plate on top of hot fudge. Make a small slit by the stem and put a bay leaf in slit. Do this with each pear. Put a spoonful of the cream cheese/whipped cream mixture by each pear. Position a 'pastry bird' on top of whipped cream. Add one or two more bay leaves by bird if desired. Garnish with 3 of the raspberries if desired.
• 9. Serve. Pass dish of thickened raspberries. Makes 4 delicious, elegant servings.

PARTRIDGE IN A PEAR TREE PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°F
• In a mixing bowl, combine cranberry sauce, orange zest, raisins and pecans.
• In pastry-lined pie plate, spread one half of filling.
• Arrange pears, cut side down, in spiral fashion, on filling.
• Spread with remaining filling exposing the cheek of the pear.
• From remaining pastry, cut design of partridge in tree.
• Arrange on top of pie.
• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until pastry is golden brown.

PEAR-AND-FRANGIPANE PASTRIES

Steps:

• Dough: In a small bowl, sprinkle yeast over milk; stir until dissolved. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Stir in vanilla seeds. In a mixer fitted with the dough-hook attachment, beat together 4 1/2 cups flour, sugar, salt, and 4 tablespoons butter on low speed until mixture resembles coarse meal, 3 to 4 minutes. Add yeast mixture; beat until dough just comes together. Add eggs and yolk; beat until just combined, 2 to 3 minutes (do not overmix). Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. Gently knead to form a smooth ball, about 30 seconds. Wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to overnight.
• Switch mixer to the paddle attachment and beat together remaining 3 sticks and 4 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons flour. Shape mixture into a 10-by-12-inch rectangle on a sheet of plastic wrap. Wrap and refrigerate at least 15 minutes and up to 1 day. (Before proceeding, let butter mixture stand at room temperature until it has same consistency as dough.)
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to a 10-by-18-inch rectangle, about 1/4 inch thick, keeping corners square. (Remove any excess flour from dough with a dry pastry brush.) With a short side facing you, place butter mixture over bottom two-thirds of dough. Fold unbuttered third down over butter, then bottom third up over that (as you would fold a business letter; this seals in the butter). Roll out dough again to a 10-by-18-inch rectangle, then fold into thirds as described above; wrap and refrigerate 1 hour. (This completes the first of three turns.) Repeat rolling and folding process two more times, refrigerating at least 1 hour between turns. Wrap tightly in plastic; refrigerate at least 4 hours and up to overnight. (Dough can also be frozen, tightly wrapped in plastic, up to 2 weeks; thaw in refrigerator overnight before using.)
• Pears: In a large saucepan, bring wine, lemon zest and juice, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla seeds, and 2 cups water to a boil. Reduce to a simmer; add pears and cover with a parchment round to keep submerged. Cook, occasionally turning pears by gently rotating stems with your fingertips, until tender when pierced with a paring knife, about 20 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer pears to a heatproof bowl. Return poaching liquid to a boil and continue cooking until syrupy and reduced by half, 10 to 12 minutes. Pour syrup over pears and refrigerate, covered, at least 4 hours and preferably overnight.
• Frangipane: In mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a mini food processor, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add 1 egg, almonds, rum, almond extract, and flour; beat until smooth.
• Using a slotted spoon, remove pears from poaching liquid and pat dry with paper towels. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to a 12-by-20-inch rectangle, about 1/4 inch thick. Using a 3 1/2-inch round cutter, cut out 16 rounds and divide between 2 parchment-lined baking sheets. Fill each pear half with about 2 teaspoons frangipane and place, cut-side down, in centers of rounds. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375°F. In a small bowl, lightly beat remaining egg. Brush rounds of dough with egg wash, avoiding pears. Bake, rotating halfway through, until pastries are evenly browned, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. Serve at room temperature.