Dessert so light, fresh, cool and fruity – and of course delightfully boozy. A wonderful end to a rich meal.

• 3 firm conference pears
• 100g caster sugar
• 1 litre water
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 375ml sweet dessert wine (like a moscatel)

1. Mix the sugar and water in a medium saucepan
2. Heat on low until the sugar dissolves, then turn the heat up and bring to the boil
3. While the syrup heats, peel the pears, then halve them lengthways and scoop out the cores with a little spoon or the tip of a sharp knife
4. Rub the pears with the cut surfaces of the lemon to stop them from browning
5. Add the pears, the lemon shells and the lemon juice to the boiling syrup and lower the heat to a simmer
6. Cook until the pears are tender and looking ever so slightly translucent – this can take up to 25 mins for really unripe ones, just 10 mins if they’re softer to start with
7. Remove the pears from the syrup and put on one side
8. Boil the syrup hard until just about 200ml is left and it’s got syrupy
9. Turn off the heat, stir in the sweet wine and pour over the pears
10. Chill thoroughly before serving – ideally over night

Serve with a scant scatter of toasted almond flakes and a few tart berries floating in the bowl with the pears – blackberries are beautiful, or red currants

Fragrant, delicious, crisp and fruity. Frangipane is such a pretty word, and this tart is so pretty to eat! This is a simple version using a pre-made puff pastry sheet.

• 1 puff pastry sheet (320g)
• 100g unsalted butter, softened
• 100g caster sugar, plus ½ tbsp for sprinkling over at the end
• 100g ground almonds (ideally ground yourself with skin on)
• ½ tsp almond extract
• Zest of ½ an orange
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• Pinch salt
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3 conference pears, peeled, cored and cut into lengthways slices
• 2 tbsp flaked almonds 

1. Preheat the oven to 180C fan (200C)
2. Keep the pastry on the baking parchment it comes rolled in – just unroll it and lay it out on a large baking tray
3. Use a sharp knife to score a border 2 cm around the edge of the pastry and then prick the base all over with a fork
4. Bake for 10-12 mins, then remove from the oven and press the base down to flatten it
5. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy
6. Beat in the ground almonds, almond extract, orange zest, flour and salt until combined
7. Brush a touch of beaten egg around the border of the pastry, then beat the rest into the frangipane
8. Spread the frangipane over the pastry base and arrange the pear slices on top
9. Scatter with flaked almonds and sprinkle with the final ½ tbsp sugar
10. Bake for 30 mins until golden and set, covering loosely with a sheet of foil if it browns too quickly