Pear Pie
Pear pie is a delightful twist on traditional fruit pies, featuring sweet, tender pears as the star ingredient. The juicy pears are typically spiced with warm flavours like cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger, creating a comforting, aromatic filling. A buttery, flaky pie crust complements the pears’ natural sweetness, while the fruit’s texture softens perfectly when baked. Pear pie is a great seasonal dessert, especially in fall, offering a lighter yet flavourful alternative to the more common apple pie. It is best served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.
In this blog post, you will learn how to make a delicious pear pie.
How to Make Pear Pie
To make a pear pie, start by preparing fresh, ripe pears—peel, core, and slice them or drain your canned pears and slice them up. Toss the sliced pears with lemon juice to prevent browning. In a bowl, mix the pear slices with brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Roll out a pie crust or puff pastry and line your pie dish, adding the pear mixture into the crust. If you want to, cover with a top crust, lattice, or another sheet of puff pastry, and brush with an egg wash for a golden finish. Bake until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbling, usually around an hour. Let sit for about an hour to allow the filling to thicken.
Can I Use Canned Pears?
Yes, you definitely can use canned pears. To use canned pears, you still want about one pound of pears with the drained weight. Drain your pears. You will not need to keep the juice. Then slice them into thin slices.
How to Prepare Fresh Pears?
To prepare fresh pears for a pear pie, follow these steps:
- Select Ripe Pears:
- Choose pears that are ripe but still firm, such as Bosc, Anjou, or Bartlett varieties, for the best texture in your pie.
- Peel the Pears:
- Use a vegetable peeler or paring knife to remove the skin from the pears, as the skin can become tough when baked.
- Core the Pears:
- Slice the pears in half and use a melon baller or a small spoon to remove the core and seeds. Also, cut out the stem.
- Slice the Pears:
- Cut the pears into thin, even slices (about 1/4-inch thick) to ensure they bake evenly and fit well in the pie.
- Toss with Lemon Juice:
- Immediately toss the pear slices with lemon juice to prevent them from browning and to add a bit of acidity to balance the sweetness.
Once prepared, your fresh pears are ready to be used in your pie filling, whether mixed with sugar and spices or placed directly in the crust.
Best Variety of Pears to Use
The best pear varieties for pear pie are those that hold their shape when baked and offer a balance of sweetness and firmness. Here are the top choices:
- Bosc Pears:
- Qualities: Bosc pears are firm and maintain their structure well when baked, making them ideal for pie. They have a slightly sweet, spiced flavour that complements the pie’s spices.
- Anjou Pears (Red or Green):
- Qualities: Anjou pears are juicy with a mild, sweet flavour. They hold up well during baking and provide a soft yet firm texture in the pie.
- Bartlett Pears:
- Qualities: Bartlett pears are juicy and sweet, with a buttery texture. They soften more than other varieties, so they’re best combined with firmer pears like Bosc for texture contrast.
Using a combination of Bosc and Anjou pears often provides the best results, balancing flavour and texture in your pear pie.
What Type of Crust Should I Use?
There are a couple of options for a crust for this pie.
A nice, simple pie dough that is delicious, easy, and homemade is this Flaky, Pie Dough.
If you want to make a pie crust that requires a little more time but is amazing, try this Puff Pastry recipe.
Or pick up a puff pastry or pie crust from the store for the simplest option of all. Personally, this pie tastes the best with a puff pastry base and no pie lid; however, whatever option you choose, this apple pie will be amazing!
Ingredients
Pear Slices: pear slices provide a sweet, juicy, and slightly floral flavour. They soften when baked, creating a tender filling with a smooth, delicate texture.
Brown Sugar: brown sugar adds rich sweetness with a hint of molasses flavour, complementing the natural sweetness of the pears. It also helps caramelize the filling slightly, enhancing the pie’s flavour.
Vanilla: vanilla extract provides a warm, aromatic sweetness that rounds out the flavours of the pears and sugar, adding depth and enhancing the overall flavour of the pie.
Lemon Juice: lemon juice adds brightness and acidity, balancing the sweetness of the pears and sugar. It also helps prevent the pears from browning while adding a refreshing note.
Puff Pastry: puff pastry serves as the flaky, buttery crust of the pie. Its layers create a light, crisp texture that contrasts with the soft, sweet filling of the pears.
Tips
- If using fresh pears, after you prepare the pears make sure to toss in lemon juice right away to prevent them from browning.
- Canned pears are a great alternative to fresh pears. You will be able to make this pie in any season, and there will be less work involved in prepping the pears for the pie.
- This recipe uses nutmeg and cinnamon; if you want to add ginger or other spices, add them in where the nutmeg and cinnamon are added in Step 1.
- To really enhance this pie and make it taste unbelievable, try making this Puff Pastry Recipe to go with this pie or purchase a puff pastry sheet from the grocery store.
- Lay the slices out evenly in the pie crust to make a lovely design.
Pear Pie
Ingredients
- 1 lb. Pear Slices
- 1/2 c. brown sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 tsp. lemon juice
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. nutmeg
- 1 puff pastry sheet
Instructions
- Take your pears and slice them up into thin slices and place into a medium bowl. Top the pears with brown sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice. Then add the nutmeg and cinnamon to the bowl and stir with a silicone spatula.
- Mix that together and let macerate in a bowl.
- Roll out the puff pastry sheet into a pie dish. Place the slices of pears into the bottom of the pie dish slightly overlapping each other. Pour the juice on top of them. If you want a pie lid or a lattice follow the Optional step below.
- Preheat the oven to 400℉/200℃/Gas Mark 6.
- Optional: If you want to make a lattice, follow these instructions. Roll out your extra pie dough into a 12” rectangle. Using a pizza cutter, knife, or pastry wheel, slice your pie dough into 12 even 1” strips. Take the pie dough strips and weave them over and under each other as necessary until the whole pie has a beautiful lattice on top. If you do not want to make a lattice, simply roll out the extra pie dough and make a simple pie lid and poke some holes into it or do not use a pie lid at all. Pinch the edges of the pie dough together and cut off the excess pie dough. Either crimp or flute the edges of the pie. Sprinkle the top with coarse sugar. If using a pie lid, make an egg wash to seal the pie together. Take an egg and 1 tbsp. of whole milk and whisk it together. Brush over the top of the pie lid and the sides of the base with a pastry brush of the pie and pinch together.
- Bake the pear pie for 25 minutes. Add a heat shield then reduce the heat to 375℉/190℃/Gas Mark 5 and bake for another 35-40 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack for a minimum of 1 hour. The longer that you let the pie sit, the more the filling will thicken as it cools.
- Cover and store your leftover pie for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
Notes
In this blog post, you learned how to make a delicious, homemade pear pie.