Ingredients Fruits Pear 9 of Our Best Pear Dessert Recipes By Food & Wine Editors and Nikki Miller-Ka Nikki Miller-Ka Instagram Twitter Website Nikki Miller-Ka has written about the intersection of food and culture for Food & Wine since 2021. She has been writing for 15 years as a food blogger, recipe developer, and regular contributor to numerous publications.Expertise: Southern cuisine, African-American foodways, snacks.Experience: Nikki Miller-Ka is a food writer with experience as a private chef, butcher, baker, and biscuit maker. She has been a television host and executive producer, recipe developer, researcher, reporter, and guest blogger for various media outlets in the Southeast. After graduating from culinary school, Nikki began her writing career as an editorial assistant at the Greensboro News & Record. There, Nikki honed her editorial and research skills; developed her food blog, Nik Snacks; and became a contributor to Go Triad, Relish, Winston-Salem Monthly, and 1808 Greensboro. She is a member of the James Beard Foundation's Restaurant and Chef Committee for the Southeast, and is a nationally ranked food competition judge. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on February 16, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: Photo by Antonis Achilleos / Food Styling by Ali Ramee / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen Subtly sweet with a texture perfect for poaching, baking, and roasting, pears make for great desserts. Try any one of these pear dessert recipes—like the classic Pears Poached in Red Wine, rich Pear Sticky Toffee Cakes with Miso-Caramel Sauce, or wintry Gingerbread Pear Loaf Cake—to learn how to use the fruit in creative and interesting ways. Any way you slice it, pears can add sweetness to a baked treat, cheese plate, or show-stopping table presentation. Read on for all of our best pear desserts. 01 of 09 Pear Tarte Tatin with Red-Wine Caramel © John Kernick Instead of apple pie, chef Shawn McClain ends his Thanksgivings with this stunning tarte Tatin. Because the recipe calls for store-bought puff pastry (McClain is a huge fan of Dufour's), it's quite easy to prepare. Get the Recipe 02 of 09 Flaky Pear Pie PHOTO © JOHN KERNICK "I grew up watching my mom make pies," says chef Grant Achatz. "My father would always envy her amazingly tender and flaky crusts. He is a great cook, but he could never quite make a piecrust like she can. Her crust rules, and I understand now that the secret is finesse, and genetically cold hands." Achatz's pie, inspired by his mom's, is as straightforward as it gets, with a melt-in-your-mouth all-shortening crust and a lightly sweetened pear filling with just a hint of spice. Get the Recipe 03 of 09 Flaugnarde with Pears © Con Poulos F&W published the recipe for this not-too-sweet fruit pancake to celebrate the publication of the 2005 edition of Paula Wolfert's 1983 classic, The Cooking of Southwest France. Flaugnarde is a sibling of the baked fruit dessert called clafoutis. It's just as good for brunch as it is for dessert, served puffed and hot right out of the oven. Get the Recipe 04 of 09 Pears Poached in Red Wine Photo by Antonis Achilleos / Food Styling by Ali Ramee / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen These poached pears taste best if made a day or two in advance, giving them time to soak in the poaching liquid. When ready to serve, reduce the liquid to a fine red wine syrup to spoon over each pear. Get the Recipe 05 of 09 Pear Sticky Toffee Cakes with Miso-Caramel Sauce Greg DuPree "A little digging suggests that the dessert made famous by British chef Francis Coulson at the Sharrow Bay hotel may in fact be Canadian in origin — which would explain my penchant for it given that I, too, am Canadian," Top Chef judge and cookbook author Gail Simmons says about the origins of sticky toffee cake, or sticky toffee pudding. "The story goes that the dessert was initially made by Patricia Martin at her country hotel in Claughton, England, and later appeared as her contribution to a compilation of recipes published in 1971. Reports differ as to whether she learned the recipe from a Canadian friend or from two Canadian air force officers who stayed at her hotel. But I would love sticky toffee cake no matter where it originated." Get the Recipe 06 of 09 Honey-Pear Sweet Cream Galette Erin Kunkel A mix of alternative flours — here, two kinds of rice flour and arrowroot — deliver a gluten-free crust that is flaky, buttery, and crisp. The floral sweetness from the honey and pears is nicely balanced by tangy cream cheese. Be sure to let the galette rest at least 30 minutes to give the filling time to firm up for easier slicing. Get the Recipe 07 of 09 Poached Pears in Muscat Photo by Mary Jo Hoffman Languedoc and Mediterranean France make beautifully aromatic, sweet Muscat dessert wines that soak into these poached pears. This recipe, which writer Steve Hoffman tasted in the town of Autignac, replaces the usual sugar with honey and counters the sweetness and floral notes of the reduced wine with some of the resinous and earthy aromas of the area's famous wild scrubland—namely bay, thyme, and fennel. A knife inserted into a poached pear should encounter about the same resistance as room-temperature butter. Get the Recipe 08 of 09 Spiced Pavlova with Roasted Pears and Grapes Alison Miksch In this recipe, cookbook author and F&W Cooks contributor Ann Taylor Pittman incorporates ground cardamom in the egg whites for "deep fragrance and warm, sweet notes." She continues, "grapes, pears, and pomegranate arils are the fall fruit trifecta for the topping, each offering its own shade of muted burgundy that feels just right for this time of year. If you've never made a pavlova, you'll be surprised by how easy it is." Get the Recipe 09 of 09 Pear and Shallot Tarte Tatin with Whipped Goat Cheese Victor Protasio Serve this savory-sweet tart as a showstopping brunch centerpiece, or cut it into slivers to add to a cheese board. While this recipe is designed for a flameware pan, it can be made in a metal skillet — just monitor the caramel closely. Get the Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit