Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.
Preheat oven to Fan Oven 160°C/180°C/350°F/Gas 4
Line and grease the base and sides of a round 20cm/8 inch cake tin.
Make the frangipane: ensure the butter is at room temperature and soft enough to beat; if not, see Recipe Notes.
Weigh all the ingredients into a bowl.
Beat with an electric whisk for about 1 minute, or until combined.
Transfer to the lined and greased baking tin and spread evenly.
Bring it all together: drain the pears – but save the juice – and dab them dry with kitchen paper.
Top the frangipane with the pear halves, cut side down.
Scatter some flaked almonds around the edge of the almondine and in the centre.
Bake in the centre of a pre-heated oven until cooked – around 35 – 40 minutes. It is cooked when the centre feels springy when lightly touched with your finger and no imprint remains.
Make the pear syrup: as the almondine cooks, prepare the pear syrup. Strain the pear juice or syrup from the tin into a saucepan.
Boil briskly over a moderately high heat until only about 2 tablespoons remain and it has reduced to a syrup.
When you take the almondine out of the oven, brush the pears with the pear syrup.
Leave the almondine in the tin for 10 minutes to cool slightly before removing and transferring to a serving plate and sieving some icing sugar over the area with the flaked almonds.
Equipment:
Soft butter:
If your butter is not soft enough, beat it first, before adding the remaining ingredients, to ensure it is light and soft. However, if your butter is straight out of the fridge and you need to soften the butter:-