Ingredients Fruits Pear 11 of Our Best Pear Dessert Recipes Whether simply poached, stuffed with sticky rice, or caramelized atop a tarte tatin, pears shine in this collection of fabulous desserts. By Food & Wine Editors and Nikki Miller-Ka Updated on February 16, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Dickey / Prop Styling by Christina Daley 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 light and nourishing Steamed Pears with Sticky Rice — 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 our best pear desserts. 01 of 11 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 02 of 11 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. Get the Recipe 03 of 11 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. "But I would love sticky toffee cake no matter where it originated." Get the Recipe 04 of 11 Steamed Pears with Sticky Rice Charissa Fay / Food Styling by Nora Singley / Prop Styling by Maeve Sheridan Subtly sweet with a silky richness from ghee, these pears, stuffed with chewy mung beans, are perfectly tender with a lightly floral flavor. Chef Zoey Xinyi Gong, a traditional Chinese medicine food therapist and chef who shared this recipe, notes that steamed desserts are popular in Chinese cuisine and commonly used for traditional Chinese medicine food therapy because they are light and easy for the body to digest. Get the Recipe 05 of 11 Spiced Pavlova with Roasted Pears and Grapes Alison Miksch In this recipe, cookbook author and F&W Cooks contributor Ann Taylor Pittman says, "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 [that] time of year. If you've never made a pavlova, you'll be surprised by how easy it is." Get the Recipe 06 of 11 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 07 of 11 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 08 of 11 Pear, Honey, and Parmigiano-Reggiano Tart Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Dickey / Prop Styling by Christina Daley This sweet and savory dessert tart pairs Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and freshly cracked black pepper with juicy pears and a drizzle of fragrant honey. The addition of Parmigiano-Reggiano to the pastry dough gives Kate Leahy's already flaky crust an extra richness and a subtle nutty flavor. It's a perfect dessert to pair with a Passito or other dessert wine. Get the Recipe 09 of 11 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 10 of 11 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. Get the Recipe 11 of 11 Flaky Pear Pie © 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 Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit