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A new series celebrating the alchemy of scent and season in a collection of delicious, seasonal recipes.
After the sweet success of our last collaboration (remember that Bonberry Jam that sold out in record time?), we’re thrilled to welcome back The Modern Preserver – aka Kylee Newton. This time, she’s here to stay as a regular Journal contributor, serving up a fresh series of seasonal recipes especially for the A&C community.
Kylee brings the flavour. Insink and Benchpress handle the cleanup - kitchen essentials that work hard and smell heavenly.
Discover more about Kylee and her culinary talents at the link below.
When winter sets in, it’s time to make the most of pears - one of the season’s quiet stars. This rich, chocolatey, fragrant frangipane tart is one of my favourites to bake on a chilly day.
Serves 10-12
200g plain flour
90g icing sugar
3 Tbsp cocoa powder
100g cold salted butter, cubed
1 egg, chilled
2–3 Tbsp ice-cold water
100g butter, cubed
80g dark chocolate (70%+ cocoa solids)
3 Tbsp cocoa powder
2 eggs, room temperature
100g caster sugar
180g almond meal (finely ground almonds)
1–2 just-ripe pears
Sift the flour, icing sugar, cocoa into a large bowl. Add the cold butter and rub the mixture between your fingers into fine crumbs.
Mix through the egg and a little of the ice-cold water until the mixture clumps together. Shape into a ball, wrap and refrigerate for 1-24 hours.
Grease a 24cm loose-bottomed tart pan. Roll the chilled pastry out between two pieces of greaseproof paper into a 28cm diameter disc, about 2mm thick. I place mine in the fridge or freezer again briefly at this stage – this helps to harden the butter.
Carefully line the tart pan with the pastry, gently pushing it into the edges. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Melt the butter and chocolate in a bain-marie, stirring until completely smooth. Remove from the heat, whisk in the cocoa powder and set aside to cool.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and the sugar. Fold this through the cooled chocolate mixture, until just combined, then gently fold through the almond meal.
Remove the tart case from the fridge and prick the base with a fork. Fill with the chocolate frangipane mixture, spreading it out evenly with a spatula.
Peel (only if preferred) and core the pears, then cut into halves. Carefully and decoratively fan-cut the halves, then gently press each half, fanned out, into the surface of the frangipane.
Bake the tart in the middle of the oven for 25-30 minutes until the surface is firm and a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool completely, remove from the pan, cut and serve with yoghurt or freshly whipped cream.
©Recipe Kylee Newton 2025. Use or reproduction is only permissible with Kylee Newton’s written consent. All rights reserved.