Brew the Glühwein as per the instructions, adding the extra 20g of sugar, maple syrup and water.
Cut a circle of baking paper using the size of your pot as a guide. Then cut a small hole in the centre of your circle, the size of a 20 cent piece. When the Glühwein is at a simmer, insert the pears (depending on the size of your pot, you may need to do this in two batches).
Place your piece of baking paper gently on top of the pears and poach in the liquid for 15-20 minutes. The circle of baking paper will help to keep in the heat, making sure the pears are cooked evenly. The best way to check if the pears are ready is to insert a knife or a skewer into the thickest part of a pear.
Once the pears are cooked, carefully remove them from the liquid and set aside.
Check the quantity of remaining liquid; it may have reduced down significantly, that is fine. If it hasn’t, bring to a gentle boil and reduce down to 250ml. Be careful not to over reduce the syrup as it can burn.
Preheat your oven to 200°C.
In the base of an 18-20cm round pie dish, ovenproof pan or baking dish, pour in approximately 80ml of syrup, or enough to cover the base. Place the pears in a circular arrangement cut side up and close together. The pears will shrink so it is ok for them to be overlapping. If the pears have narrow tops you can fit a pear in the centre.
Cut a circle of puff pastry approximately 1-2cm larger than your pie dish. Fit the pastry around the pears, using a small spatula to tuck the edges down the sides of the dish. This will help to encase the pears snuggly. Brush with egg wash if desired. (For the egg wash- add one tablespoon of milk or water to one egg and whisk).
Bake for 25- 35 minutes until the pastry is golden. Once cooked, remove the tarte from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
To invert the tarte, use a tray or plate bigger than your baking dish to cover the opening then, holding it away from yourself, quickly flip the tarte over so it will invert on to the flat surface. Be careful at this stage as there will be hot syrup in the base that will leak out if the plate is not secured to the pie dish. We recommend using oven mitts at this stage.
Once inverted, transfer to a serving dish and drizzle with the remaining syrup.
