Marzipan pie with pears in wine

An elegant marzipan pie with pears marinated in red wine.

Ingredients

• Hard pears - 5-6 pcs.
• Red dessert wine - 350 ml (up to 750 ml, depending on the size of the pears)
• Sugar - 2 tbsp. tablespoons (up to 3/4 cup, to taste)
• Cinnamon - 1 small stick
• or a few stars of anise
• For test:
• Almond marzipan (marzipan mass) - 200 g
• Butter unsalted (softened) - 125 g
• Eggs - 3 pcs.
• Sugar - 100 g
• Flour (unbleached) - 110 g
• Soda - 1/2 tsp
• For marzipan mass (see recipe below):
• Almond flour (ground almonds, peeled) - 150 g
• Powdered sugar - 100 g
• Egg white - 1 pc.
• and / or lemon juice - 1 tbsp. the spoon

Directions

1. Peel the pears (I have 6 small ones) from the peel. Carefully cut the pears along with the tails in half lengthwise (it is better to start doing this from the tail). With a special round spoon, remove the core with seeds.
2. Pour wine into a saucepan (I have a dessert wine made from mulberry, a very rich ruby ​​​​hue). Add sugar, cinnamon (I have anise) and bring to a boil. Cook over low heat for 2-3 minutes.
3. Dip the pears into the wine syrup. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove from fire. Leave the pears in the wine syrup until completely cooled.
4. Put the saucepan with the pears in wine in the refrigerator overnight or at least 5 hours, otherwise the pears will not have an intense color.
5. Prepare marzipan mass
6. Preheat oven to 180°C. Prepare a pie tin (I have a 22 cm diameter tin). Cover the bottom and sides of the pan with parchment paper and brush lightly with oil.
7. Place the pears on a paper towel to remove excess liquid. Wine and pear syrup can be saved and used for the next same pie.
8. At each half of the pear, carefully trim the bottom so that the pear stands straight and does not fall.
9. Put the halves of the pears in a mold - distribute along the sides of the mold.
10. In a bowl, mix flour and soda. Set aside.
11. In another bowl, beat softened butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy.
12. Add marzipan mass cut into small pieces - add a little at a time. Beat the mass until smooth, about 4 minutes.
13. Add eggs one at a time. Beat until light and smooth, about 2 minutes.
14. Add flour with soda. Switch the mixer to low speed and mix the dough until smooth.
15. Put the dough into a mold. Bake the pear pie at 180 degrees for about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
16. 10-15 minutes before the end of baking, or if the cake is browning quickly, cover the cake with foil.
17. Bon appetit!