Vin cuit, as the name does not imply, has absolutely nothing to do with wine…

Vin cuit is a Swiss-French specialty – a thick, molasses-type syrup made by slowly boiling down pear (or apple) juice. As far as my research goes, in Dutch they have “perenstroop” and the German equivalent may or may not be “birnekraut”, but for those outside Europe, I think pear butter would work really well. There are loads of recipes online for making your own pear butter, so why not give it a go now they are coming into season, and use some of it in this tart?

Makes 1 x 25cm / 10″ tart
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 10 minutes + 25 minutes
Cooling time: 10 minutes + 1 hour

Ingredients

pâte brisée (shortcrust pastry)
dried beans or rice or pie weights for blind baking
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
200ml (4/5 cup) vin cuit de poires or pear butter
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
100ml (2/5 cup) double cream

Directions

Preheat oven to 200°C / 390°F / Gas Mark 6, and lightly grease a 25cm / 10″ pie plate.

Line the pie plate with the pastry, prick all over the bottom with a fork, line with parchment and fill with pie weights. Blind bake the pastry for 10 minutes, then place pie plate on a wire rack to cool a little.

Using a stand mixer fitted with a balloon whisk, or a hand-held electric mixer, whisk together the eggs and yolk, vin cuit (or pear butter), sugar and cream, until smooth.

Pour the filling into the pie crust and bake in centre of oven for 20 – 25 minutes, until it’s completely set but still a little bit jiggly in the middle, like a flan.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool before cutting.