These incredible puff pastry pear tarts coated with salted caramel take less than an hour to make and look like they came out of a patisserie shop. They make a delicious autumnal dessert that will wow your friends and family!
If you love the idea of fruit baked into puff pastry, take a look at another seasonal favourite Apple Turnovers.
Have you ever walked into a European style bakery and felt absolutely in awe of the craftsmanship, skill and creativity? I know I am always amazed at delicious things displayed.
Would you be happy if I told you that for some of them are so easy to make? And you don’t even have to get up at the crack of dawn and get baking!
Pear Tart Recipe
These delectable pear tarts took me 40 minutes to make. What is even better I’ve prepared a step-by step video tutorial on how you can do the same. Then you can surprise your friends and family at your Thanksgiving feast with these beauties.
This puff pastry dessert is beautiful and delicious despite the simplicity of preparation. I also love that it uses a very plain fruit like pear and turns it into a real star! I love pears in season and use them for many bakes. This Spiced Pear Baked Oatmeal is an excellent way to start a day!
I’ve used prepared and already rolled puff pastry, which made the whole process pure joy. All you really need to do do is assemble the tarts – kind of like doing a bit of craft, actually.
How to Make Them
This is the least fussy dessert recipe but it tastes divine. I made a video, so you could see for yourself just how easy these pear tarts are. Once you know how to fold them, the rest is up to the ingredients. They are what make these tarts irresistible.
What Pears to Use
I am not very particular on what variety of pears you use. Anything that happens to be in your fruit basket or local supermarket will do. I used Conference pears simply because they are small and readily available in my area.
One thing I’d like to mention is to make sure your pears are ripe as the tarts only spend 30 minutes in the oven, which is not long enough for hard pears to cook. They should also be small in size.
Salted Caramel for Pear Tarts
Now onto the salted caramel topping. It sounds intimidating but in reality is very simple to make for this particular recipe.
All you have to do is to sprinkle brown sugar, heavy cream and sea salt over the pears before baking. And they turn into salted caramel in the oven without you doing a thing! Genius.
This recipe produces a pear tart with a delicate taste. They are not too sweet. I’ve served mine dusted with powdered sugar.
These tarts are at the most delicious state shortly after they are baked although they will easily last a day. So if you want to make them a day ahead, it’s not a problem!
More Easy Puff Pastry Dessert Recipes for You:
This recipe was originally published in 10/2013. Updated with new photos, text and video and republished in 10/2020.
Ingredients
- 375g/13 oz all butter puff pastry
- 1 egg beaten
- 4 ripe pears small or medium
- 8 tsp Demerara (brown) sugar
- 8 tsp double/heavy cream no half and half
- 1 tsp coarse sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375F/190C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out your puff pastry. If you are using a block, dust your work surface with some flour and roll out a rectangle ¼″ thick. Divide your rectangular shaped puff pastry into 8 small rectangles. With a sharp knife, cut an “L” into 2 opposing corners, don’t cut all the way but leave a ½-inch in two corners. Brush with the beaten egg . Pick up the cut corners of the pastry, cross them over each other (one over, one under) and lay them flat (now on opposite sides). Brush the tops of the pastry with the egg wash and put the prepared pastries in the refrigerator to chill.
- While the pastry is chilling, prepare the pear filling. Peel the pears and split them in half lengthwise, core them, and slice in ¼″ slices.
- Take the pastry shells out of the fridge and set them on your work surface, place one pear half in the centre of each tart. Then sprinkle with a teaspoon of brown sugar and a teaspoon/5ml of double cream per tart, then add a pinch sea salt on top. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes or until pears are soft and pastry is golden.
Video
Image from the original post published in 07/10/2013
Recipe source: Chef Anna Olson
