When it comes to dessert, beer tends to get ignored, though there are dozens of beer styles that pair perfectly with sweet food. We particularly loved this recipe as it’s a home cook’s dish from a town that really feels the freeze in winter – Dullstroom in Mpumalanga. It’s also somewhat unusual for being a dessert that not only pairs well with a pint (well, maybe a half as you’ll likely be too full for a pint by the dessert course) but that also features beer as an ingredient.
(Check out our other African Brew recipes: springbok stew with dumplings, beer and bacon risotto, and beef and stout pie.)
Although a lighter beer is used in the tart, try serving the dish with something richer, such as a chocolaty stout, a warming porter, a Belgian Dubbel or even a fruit beer. In the end of course, pairing is a personal thing, so take some of the recipes from African Brew, buy or brew a range of beers and host a beer pairing evening where your guests choose what they feel goes best with each dish.
Beer, pear and chocolate tart
Makes 1 tart | Recipe courtesy of Sarie de Beer of the Anvil Ale House
Ingredients
1 roll puff pastry
For the pear filling:
- 750 ml water
- 750 ml beer (a fruity blonde ale, such as Anvil Blond, is best, though a pilsner will also work)
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 1 orange, halved
- 1 lemon, halved
- 6 whole pears, peeled and with cores intact
For the chocolate filling:
- 115 g butter, at room temperature
- 115 g castor sugar
- 3 eggs
- 60 ml cake flour
- 100 g pecan nuts, coarsely chopped
- 225 g dark cooking chocolate, melted
- 60 ml flaked almonds
Cooking method
- Roll out the puff pastry so that it is thin in the middle and slightly thicker towards the outer edge.
- Line a 25 cm pie dish with the pastry and leave in the freezer until you’re ready to add the filling.
- For the pear filling, boil the water, beer, cinnamon, citrus fruits and pears for 20 minutes, or until the pears are just softening.
- Remove from the heat and leave the pears to cool in the liquid. When cooled, remove the cores and chop the pears. This sauce can be used for another tart, or keep it in the freezer.
- For the chocolate filling, cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, flour and pecans, alternating each addition. Add the melted chocolate.
- Spoon half of the chocolate mixture over the pastry base. Spoon the pear filling over the layer of chocolate, then spoon the remaining chocolate mixture over the top. Top with the flaked almonds.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees C for 50 minutes. The top of the tart will form cracks, like a quiche, but that’s fine.
- Serve at room temperature as is, or with ice cream. This is quite a decadent tart, so rather cut small slices.
Recipe extracted from “African Brew” by Lucy Corne & Ryno Reyneke (Struik Lifestyle), which is available at all leading bookstores in South Africa.
