Roasted Pear and Fig Ice Cream Pie

Allow me to introduce the crown jewel of my autumn baking, a creation where the orchard meets the creamery: the Roasted Pear and Fig Ice Cream Pie. This is not merely a dessert; it is a seasonal epic, a symphony of texture and deep, caramelized flavor. It begins with a foundation of a French sable crust—so impossibly buttery and crisp it shatters at the mere touch of a fork. This golden vessel is then lavishly filled with a rich almond cream, which bakes into a tender, marzipan-like layer. But the heart of the pie lies within. Hidden beneath the almond blanket is a generous swirl of rustic fig spread, its honeyed sweetness punctuated by slices of intense Black Mission figs and tender, chunks of pear. Once baked and cooled, the pie is covered with more figs, and then crowned with my own roasted pear ice cream and pear brûlée. Each bite is nothing short of an autumnal revelation.

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Allow me to introduce the crown jewel of my autumn baking...

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Roasted Pear Ice Cream

Freeze the tart ring and baking tray lined with parchment or plastic acetate sheet. Churn your roasted ice cream custard mixture.

Ice Cream Disk

As soon as the ice cream is churned, shape it into a disk and freeze for 6 hours at least before de-molding.
Cut ice cream disk onto a frozen tray into 6 or 8 slices. Keep frozen.

Blind Bake Tart Shell

Blind bake sugar dough tart shell for 15 minutes in a fan oven sets at 330ºF/160ºC. Remove pie weights, and let cool to room temperature.
Pipe out the room temperature almond cream.

Pie Stuffing

Stuff the almond cream filling with dollops of roasted fig spread. Top each of them with a fig slice.
Tuck in pear chunks around the figs.

Baking

Bake for 45 minutes at 330ºF/160ºC. Let cool and transfer pie onto a wire rack. At this juncture, the pie can be thrown in the freezer for up to a month.

Poaching Pears

This method is used to enhance the pear's flavor, sweetness, and texture. Bring water and sugar to a boil. Squeeze the lemon in the syrup. Add spices if desired such as vanilla and star anise.. Plunge the peeled pears in the hot syrup. Cover the saucepan tightly with a piece of stretched plastic film. Bring to a quick boil, and cook to gentle simmer for an hour. Check the doneness – it should never be overcooked but rather quite tender with a firm sensation when going through the core of the fruit. Leave pears in syrup until it is cool. Refrigerate for up to a week until ready to use (in their syrup).

Pear Brûlée

Drain poached pears (the syrup can be sieved and store in the freezer to be reused later). Cut each pear in half (one should be enough for the pie). Core and cut each halve into 4 or 6 wedges.
Arrange pear wedges onto a baking tray and blowtorch until edges get dark. Let them cool and keep refrigerated.

Assembly

Cover the pie with the roasted fig spread.
Slice more figs.. These were so ripe that I had to slice them using my serrated knife!
Lay fig slices over. Cut pie into 6 portions.
Right before serving, top each slice with the roasted pear ice cream and pear brûlée.
Serve immediately. Bon appétit!