1. Make pear mixture: In a saucepan, combine cranberry
juice,
sugar, cinnamon stick and lemon juice. Bring to boil and
add pears.
2. Heat until it just comes to simmer and simmer gently
for 10-15
minutes, or until the pears are just tender.
3. Remove from heat, stir in cranberries and let
mixture cool.
Chill, covered, for atleast 8 hours. (may be made 2 days in
advance)
4. Crust: Blend together flour, brown sugar, cinnamon,
ginger,
allspice and salt.
5. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal.
6. In a small bowl, stir together egg yolk and the
molasses.
7. Add to flour mixture and mix until combined well but
still
crumbly.
8. Turn out onto 10 inch tart pan with removable rim
and press
onto bottom and up sides of pan.
9. Chill crust for 30 minutes.
10. Preheat oven to 375°F.
11. Prick crust all over with fork, line with foil, fill
with pie
weights or dry beans, and bake in lower third of oven for
15 minutes.
12. Remove foil and pie weights and bake crust a further
10 minutes.
13. Let cool.
14. Transfer poached pears and half the cranberries with
a slotted
spoon to paper towels to drain, discard cinnamon, and
reserve syrup
with remaining cranberries.
15. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, sour
cream, milk,
vanilla, zest and a pinch of salt.
16. Stir in the drained cranberries.
17. Preheat oven to 325°F.
18. Spoon half of custard into the crust.
19. Slice 4 of the pear halves crosswise on the
diagonal, arrange
decoratively over the custard alternately with the unsliced
pear
halves, and spoon remaining custard around pears.
20. Bake tart in middle of oven for 50-55 minutes or
until custard
is just set.
21. Remove rim of pan and let cool. (may be made up to 8
hours in
advance, cooled completely and chilled)
22. Boil reserved syrup until reduced to 1 cup and is
jelly-like
in consistency and transfer cranberries with slotted spoon
to a plate
to cool.
23. Brush pears with some of cranberry glaze and arrange
cranberries around edge of tart.
24. Serve warm or chilled.