Pear Tart is an elegant French pastry that’s surprisingly easy to make with a simple, sweet, and buttery crust and glazed pear filling.
This classic Pear Tart recipe is a delightful Dessert that you can slice into wedges to share. For more fruit tarts, try my Rustic Cranberry Galette, Summer Fruit Galette, or French Apple Tart next.
Table of contents
Sabrina’s Pear Tart Recipe
My Pear Tart is a delicious treat that looks like something you’d see displayed in a pastry shop window, but it’s surprisingly easy to make. The flaky crust is a classic French pastry dough called Pâte Sucrée, and it’s perfect for beginning bakers. Just combine butter, powdered sugar, an egg yolk, and flour to make the enriched, sweet dough. Then, let it chill in the fridge before par-baking until just browning.
After that it’s a simple matter of adding fresh pears and the sugar topping. While baking, the fruit juice, and sugar will meld together into the perfect syrupy mixture of sweet and tart flavor. It’s a beautiful, sweet, tasty old-fashioned dessert that is sure to be a new favorite!
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter: Butter adds flavor and softens the homemade pastry dough. Letting the butter soften completely to cream into a fluffy texture with the sugar is important.
- ¼ cup powdered sugar: Pâte Sucrée translates to sweet dough. Unlike Pie Dough, which doesn’t typically call for sweeteners, the tart crust has a sweeter flavor. Powdered sugar sweetens the dough and helps to keep the crust tender when blended with the butter mixture.
- 1 egg yolk: Separate an egg white and egg yolk and add the yolk to the pastry mixture to bind the ingredients and enrich the simple dough.
- 1 ¼ cup flour: You can use plain all-purpose flour or pastry flour for your Pear Tart recipe.
- ¼ teaspoon salt: Balance the sweet pastry dough with a pinch of salt.
- 4 fresh pears: Pit and slice ripe pears to layer over the pastry crust. When selecting pears look for medium, semi-firm pears with good color. If you use smaller pears, you may need to use a fifth one to make sure you have enough for the tart recipe.
- ½ cup sugar: Add granulated sugar as a sweet topping to complement the sweet and fresh pears. As the recipe bakes, the sugar and pear juice will mix together to form a beautiful glaze.
- 2 tablespoons flour: Mix flour into the butter and sugar mixture. This helps to thicken the filling and absorb excess moisture from the juicy pears. If your pears have more juice than most, you may want to use more flour to balance out the ripe pears.
- 3 tablespoons frozen butter: Dice the frozen butter and blend it with the sugar and flour mixture. The crumbly butter will melt over the pears and blend into the sugary fruit mixture for perfectly browned and lightly caramelized fruit.
- 2 tablespoons coarse sanding sugar: Sprinkle additional large-grain sugar on top to give your Pear Tart a beautiful sparkle.
Kitchen Tools & Equipment
- Stand mixer: A kitchen stand mixer with a paddle attachment is ideal for creaming the butter and combining the pastry dough ingredients. If you don’t have a stand mixer, a large mixing bowl and hand-held electric mixer will do the trick.
- Plastic wrap: Wrap the dough in a square of plastic wrap to keep it from drying out in the fridge.
- Tart pan: This recipe is for a 9-inch tart pan. A tart pan is a shallow dish with fluted sides, made for baking pastries like this one. If you don’t have a tart pan, you could use a 9-inch pie pan and only press the dough up the sides a little.
- Baking spray: Grease the baking dish with non-stick cooking oil so the crust doesn’t stick to the pan.
- Food processor: Pulse flour, butter, and flavoring ingredients in a food processor. The blades pulse the mixture into the perfect crumbly texture. You could also use a pastry cutter or fork to do this process by hand; it will take a bit longer.
How to Make
Time needed: 2 hours and 20 minutes.
- Cream the Butter
Add softened butter and powdered sugar to your stand mixer. Cream the butter mixture at medium speed for 2-3 minutes. This should create a light, fluffy texture. Add the egg yolk.
- Combine into Dough
Then, mix in the flour and salt at the lowest speed setting.
- Refrigerate:
Once the mixture is combined, transfer the dough to a piece of plastic wrap. Work it into a disk shape and wrap it tightly. Chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Bake pastry crust:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and spray a 9” tart pan with non-stick cooking spray. Press the chilled dough into the prepared pan and poke holes in the surface using a fork. Layer a piece of parchment paper on top and fill it with pie weights or dry beans. Bake for 15 minutes so that the crust is just browning. Then remove the pie weights and let the crust cool while you prepare the pear filling.
- Add pears:
Fan out the pear slices in a circle over the cooled pastry.
- Sugar mixture:
Add the granulated sugar, flour, kosher salt, and butter to your food processor. Pulse until the mixture forms a crumb-like consistency. Then, sprinkle over the pears and top with sanding sugar.
- Baking time:
Bake for 35-40 minutes until bubbly and golden brown. Remove the Pear Tart from the oven and let cool before slicing into wedges to serve.
- Optional
Dust the top of the baked tart with powdered sugar after it has cooled for at least 15 minutes.
Ingredients
Pâte Sucrée (Pastry Crust):
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter , very softened
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 cup flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Pear Filling:
- 4 fresh pears , pitted and sliced 1/2" thick (you may need a 5th pear if they're small)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons flour , if pears are very juicy use 3 or 4 tablespoons
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons butter , frozen and diced
- 2 tablespoons coarse sanding sugar
Instructions
Pâte Sucrée (Pastry Crust):
- To your stand mixer add the softened butter and the powdered sugar. Cream the butter mixture on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add in the egg yolk.
- On the lowest speed setting add in the flour and salt until just combined.
- Remove the dough, place into a piece of plastic wrap, wrap tightly in a disk shape.
- Refrigerate the dough for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray a 9″ tart pan with baking spray.
- Press the dough gently into your tart pan.
- Poke holes across the tart dough with a fork.
- Add a piece of parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans.
- Bake for 15 minutes until barely browned at all, remove the parchment and pie weights.
- Let cool.
Pear Filling:
- Add the pears in circles in the pan, like a fan design.
- In a food processor pulse together the sugar, flour, salt and butter until it makes crumbs.
- Top the pears with the butter mixture crumble.
- Sprinkle the sanding sugar over the pan.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes until golden brown.
- Let cool before slicing.
- Optional: Garnish with a dusting of powdered sugar before serving.
Nutrition
Want to save this recipe? Create a free account to easily save your favorite recipes
Chef’s Note: Give Pears a Try!
When we think of fruit filled pastries, most of us default to apples, berries, bananas, and peach desserts. Maybe even pumpkin and plums, but pears are all too often forgotten. But they really are an unsung star of baked desserts. They get even sweeter and more floral as they bake, plus they hold their shape well so they are perfect for pies and tarts. This Pear Tart is a perfect pear recipe that combines sweet, tender baked pears with the ultimate buttery pastry crust.
Can this be made ahead of time?
Yes, you can assemble the tart and bake it a day before. Allow it to cool completely before storing.
Nutritional Facts
What to Serve with Pear Tart
When I serve a slice of pie, there’s no better way to finish your fruit pie than with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream or a dollop of Whipped Cream on top. The rich and creamy flavor perfectly complements the tart and sweet flavors of the fruit dessert. You could make it even sweeter with a drizzle of Salted Caramel Sauce or balance the sweetness with Creme Fraiche or mascarpone.
How to Store
- Store: To keep leftovers fresh, cover your fruit tart in plastic wrap or place the remaining pieces in an airtight container. Kept covered in the fridge the Pear Tart will stay good for 3-4 days.
- Serve: Let your tart recipe sit on the counter for 20-30 minutes to come back to room temperature before serving.
- Freeze: For a more long-term storage option, you can wrap your tart in a layer of plastic wrap and then place it in a freezer bag. The dessert can stay frozen for up to 3 months.
Frequent Questions
Although canned pears can be used in a pinch, fresh pears are the better option for texture and flavor. Be sure to thoroughly drain canned pears if you use them.
It’s important to pick sturdy pears that aren’t too mushy and will hold up well during the baking process. Bosc pears, French butter pears, and Concorde pears are all good options for your sweet pear tart.
Variations
- Brown sugar: You can give the Pear Tart a richer flavor with notes of vanilla by adding brown sugar to the top instead of white sugar.
- Fruits: For other delicious fruit desserts, you can add other kinds of fruit, like sliced apples, peaches, or fresh berries, to your tart.
- Add-ins: There are plenty of other delicious ingredients that you can add to the pear filling. For a bit of crunch to contrast with the baked fruit filling and buttery crust, you can sprinkle chopped pistachios, pecans, or walnuts over the sliced fruit. You can also add coconut
More Delicious Tart Recipes
