Chocolate tarts with mulled pears

Method

1.  Make the mulled pears the day before you want to eat (or freeze) the tarts. Put the caster sugar, wine, cinnamon and 100ml water in a large saucepan and gently heat until the sugar has dissolved to make a syrup.
2. Peel the pears and add whole to the simmering syrup. Poach for 10 minutes, turning occasionally, then set aside to cool in the syrup. Once cool, chill in the syrup overnight.
3. The next day, preheat the oven to 180°c/fan160°c/gas 4. Line 6 x 10cm loose-bottomed tart tins with the pastry and chill in the fridge.
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4. In a bowl, mix together the ground almonds, cocoa and caster sugar. Add the butter and beat together until well mixed. Gradually beat in the eggs, 1 at a time.
5. Fill the pastry cases with the chocolate almond cream. Remove the pears from their syrup (discard the syrup) and halve lengthways – keep the stem intact. Slice across on a slight angle, not cutting all the way through. Place a pear half on each tart.
6. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the filling sets and the pastry is pale gold. Gently heat the apricot jam in a small pan. Brush the pears with jam to glaze. Decorate with flaked almonds and dust with icing sugar. Serve warm with cream or vanilla ice cream.