Pear Almond Frangipane Pies

Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and set out two 9-inch pie pans.
2. Prepare the almonds first: grind most of them in a food processor to a fine meal and thinly slice the rest; keep the sliced almonds aside for the topping.
3. Make the crust: in a bowl stir together all but 30 g of the flour, about one quarter of the ground almonds (60 g), 50 g of the sugar and 3 g of the salt. Pour in the melted butter (200 g) and stir until it looks like damp sand.
4. Divide the crust mixture in half and press each half evenly over the bottom and up the sides of a pie pan. Prick the bottoms with a fork.
5. Bake the crusts for 15 minutes, until set and just turning golden at the edges. Set them on a rack while you make the filling.
6. Make the frangipane: beat the softened butter (110 g) with the remaining sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
7. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla and lemon zest.
8. Fold in the remaining ground almonds (200 g), the remaining 30 g of flour and the remaining 1 g of salt until smooth.
9. Spread half the frangipane into each warm crust.
10. Fan the pear slices over the frangipane, dividing them evenly between the pies and pressing them in lightly. Scatter the sliced almonds over both pies.
11. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the frangipane is puffed and golden and a toothpick inserted in the frangipane between pears comes out clean. Cover the edges with foil if they brown too fast.
12. Cool the pies on a rack for at least 2 hours before cutting each pie into 6 slices.