JOHN WHAITE’S

Since being crowned GBBO champion in 2012, John has firmly established himself as a go-to authority on all things sweet! These beautiful pâtisserie-style tarts are taken from his brand new cookbook, Comfort.

Hands-on time 15min. Cooking time about 50min. Serves 4

for the poached pears

◆ 600g caster sugar

◆ 2 small Comice pears, peeled,

stalks intact

◆ Generous pinch saffron strands for the pistachio torte

◆ 70g ground pistachios

◆ 60g unsalted butter, softened

◆ 60g light brown muscovado

sugar

◆ 1 large egg to finish

◆ 4tbsp apricot jam

◆ Pearl sugar, to sprinkle

◆ Chopped pistachios,

to sprinkle

1 First, poach the pears. Put the sugar and 600ml (1 pint) water into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Once boiling, reduce to a brisk simmer and drop in the pears and saffron. 2 Cover the pan with a cartouche – a disc of baking paper with a small hole cut out from the centre. This will keep the pears submerged, so long as the cartouche is touching the surface of the syrup and has a little syrup on top to weigh it down. Poach the pears until they are easily pierced with a knife, but retain their shape – a good 15–20min should do it. 3 Preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fan) mark 6. Grease 4 9cm (3½in) fluted tart tins with 2cm (¾in) sides and line the bases with baking paper. 4 For the torte, beat the ingredients together to a fairly smooth batter. Divide between the prepared tins as evenly as possible. Cut each

pear in half, trying as best you can to cut through the stalk, spoon out the core, then fan each pear half – cut small slices from the top to bottom, leaving a little flesh uncut at the top (the stalk end), enabling you to fan the slices open. Place each pear half on top of a torte. Bake for 30-35min, or until dark and crusty on top. 5 Heat the apricot jam and 1tbsp water in a small pan until you have a runny glaze – if there are lumps of pulp, just pass it through a fine sieve. Glaze each torte liberally as soon as they come out of the oven, then sprinkle over some pearl sugar and chopped pistachios. GH TIP These tarts do brown quickly, so keep an eye on them and cover loosely with foil if beginning to look dark. PER SERVING 422cals, 6g protein, 23g fat (10g saturates), 45g carbs (45g total sugars), 3g fibre

‘This is an Eastern take on the classic frangipane tart. The pears are poached in saffron syrup to give them a bright golden colour, and pistachios are used instead of almonds’