This French pear custard pie (flan aux poires) with a great hint of vanilla and right amount of sweetness is definitely a keeper! It's so delicious, easy and quick to make. Such a great way to use pears when they are in season.
Begin by putting water in a bowl. Squeeze in juice from half lemon and set aside. Next peel the pears, cut them into quarters, remove the core and soak them in the bowl with lemon water. You're are simply soaking them in water, so that they won't turn brown by the time you'll be using them.
Preheat the oven to 180 °C (356 °F), with top and bottom heat. Now put the butter and half of the milk in a pot and melt in the oven that you're busy preheating or use a stove and let cool.
In two empty bowls separate the eggs. Add a pinch of salt to the bowl with egg whites and beat until light and fluffy. Add flour, sugar, the remaining milk, 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar and baking powder to the bowl with egg yolks and beat until creamy. Add milk - butter mixture and whisk. Using a spatula gently fold in egg whites. You want to retain the air in the egg whites.
Usinga colander drain the pears that you soaked earlier and scatter them in a greased glass casserole dish. Pour the custard over top and let sit for five minutes.
Put the casserole dish in the preheated ovenand bake for 45 minutes. 15 minutes before the end of baking timesprinkle with almond flakes. Immediately after baking sprinkle withthe remaining vanilla sugar. Put the custard back in the oven, closeit and let sit inside for at least 30 minutes. Enjoy.
Notes
After baking if you move the casserole dish you will realize that the custard is not completely firm, but after 30 minutes in the oven it will become nicely firm. So there is no need to poke the cake.
Use a deeper glass dish to bake this pie
This recipe goes well with peaches or apples as well. Just be sure to cut the fruits into smaller slices.