Pear Pie
Pear pie is a delightful twist on the more traditional fruit pies like Apple Pie. Pear pie is a great seasonal dessert and perfect for crisp, Fall evenings. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
In this blog post, you will learn how to make 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 the steps below:
- Select Ripe Pears: Choose pears that are ripe but still firm, such as Bosc, Anjou, or Bartlett varieties. These varieties will have the best texture for 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 that 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 into the crust.
Best Variety of Pears to Use
The best variety of pear to use for pear pie are those that hold their shape well once baked and have a balance of sweetness and firmness. My top pear choices are listed below:
- Bosc Pears
- Anjou Pears (Red or Green)
- Bartlett Pears
Using a combination of Bosc pears and Anjou pears often have the best result because they balance flavour and texture together well.
What Type of Crust Should I Use?
This recipe calls for a Puff Pastry crust for the pie. You can buy one or make one yourself. If you want to make one try using my Puff Pastry Recipe. If you want to make a pie crust but need a simpler pie dough try my Flaky, Pie Dough Recipe. Both of these crusts have amazing results! Personally, this pie tastes the best with a puff pastry base and no pie lid; however, whatever option you choose, this pear pie will be amazing!
Ingredients
Pear Slices: pear slices are sweet and juicy. They soften when they are baked making a very tender filling.
Brown Sugar: brown sugar adds a sweetness that complements the pears.
Vanilla Extract: vanilla extract rounds out the flavour of the pears and sugar enhancing the flavour of the pie.
Lemon Juice: lemon juice prevents the pears from browning when freshly peeled.
Puff Pastry: puff pastry forms the flaky, buttery crust of the pie. It has a crisp texture that pairs well with the soft 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.