Poached Pears Baked in Puff Pastry

Crisp, buttery and golden brown on the outside with a creamy pear interior flavored delicately with cinnamon, clove and vanilla. There are a few steps to this recipe, but they are worth every one of them. I found the recipe on “The Little Epicurean” food blog. Did you know it is estimated that there are 31 million food bloggers in the United States and over 600 million world-wide. Wow! Guess I’m not the only one! :-)

I got a little carried away with the whipped cream. It should have been served in neat little quenelles, but I got excited when I went to serve.

This recipe calls for store-bought, good quality frozen puff pastry, preferably made with butter, not vegetable oil. Thaw the puff pastry overnight in the fridge.

I used Bartlett pears as I like their plumpness and sweet pear flavor.

I made these Baked Pears for our New Year’s dinner, but don’t save them just for a holiday. They are a perfect way to end a dinner party, Sunday family dinner, or Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and this dessert is sure to melt anyone’s heart.

I also learned a new French technique from the blog where I found this recipe.

https://www.thelittleepicurean.com/maryanne-cabrera/

Maryanne is a classically trained pastry chef from California. I love her website and am very glad I happened upon it, as all of her recipes look fabulous. The technique is French and is used in poaching to help control the simmering to get a more even cook. It’s called the cartouche method. Not to be confused with the ancient Egyptian oval design, by the same name, which encloses a royal name. The Egyptian cartouche symbolizes protection and royalty, holding hieroglyphs for pharaohs names. No relation to the French cooking method.

I was going to skip this step, but Maryanne emphasized its importance so I made a rustic cartouche, but I think it worked its magic as the pears were perfectly poached.

To make the cartouche, cut a circle of parchment paper to fit inside the saucepan you are poaching the pears in. Cut a small round in the center of the parchment paper. I just folded in quarters and cut off the end to make a square. The idea is to create a vent.

Once you have made your cartouche, make the poaching liquid. Here I am going to give you the ingredients I used, which were slightly different from Maryanne’s recipe, in part as I was poaching only 2 pears and her recipe calls for poaching 4. In the recipe below I will give you Maryanne’s exact ingredients for poaching liquid and 4 pears, but I encourage you to use the whole cloves as they added a very nice flavor.

In a medium heavy-bottomed sauce pan combine about 3 cups water (enough to cover the pears completely), 3/4 cup sugar, a few whole cloves, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 tsp. vanilla bean paste, 1 vanilla bean split open, 1 Tbsp. honey and 3/4 cup sugar. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.

Slice off about 1/4 inch from the bottom of each pear so they sit upright and steady while baked. Peel the pears. Core the pears from the bottom. I used a knife to carefully cut out the the blossom end and then a small melon baller to get as much core out as I could. Don’t worry if you don’t get it all. As the pears poach and bake, everything inside softens. Leave the stems intact.

Gently submerge the pears on their side in the pot. Cover with the cartouche. Simmer for about 15 minutes, flip the pears halfway through cooking until the pears are tender, but not too soft or mushy. Test for doneness by inserting a sharp knife into the pear. They will continue cooking when taken off the heat. 15 minutes was perfect for my pears.

Remove the pot from the heat. Cool the pears to room temperature in the poaching liquid. Transfer to an airtight container and let the pears soak in the liquid overnight in the fridge. I left the pears in the pot and chilled in the fridge for about 6 hours.

Drain the pairs on a paper towel.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Make an egg wash by whisking 1 egg with 1/2 Tbsp. heavy cream or whole milk and a pinch of salt.

Unroll the thawed puff pastry sheet. Cut out four squares (in my case two squares) to encase the bottom of each pear. Slice remaining puff pastry into 1/2 inch wide strips.

Place pears on a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush pears thoroughly with the egg wash.

Wrapped and ready for egg wash.

Beginning at the bottom, wrap puff pastry strips around the pear, leaving the stem exposed. Loosely allow the strips to lay next to each other. Repeat with the remaining pears.

Lightly brush the exterior with the egg wash.

Wrapped, brushed with egg wash and ready to bake.

Bake for 30 minutes until puff pastry is golden brown. Allow to cool for 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a serving plate.

Maryanne suggests garnishing with a drizzle of honey or dusting with powdered sugar before serving. I did neither as I decided to serve with whipped cream flavored with a little cinnamon, vanilla paste and a tiny amount of sugar. Again, I went a little crazy with the whipped cream, but it sure was delicious!

Here is my husband, Jerry enjoying a Poached Pear Baked in Puff Pastry before the fire on New Year’s night.

I hope you like this delightful dessert as much as we did!

Praying for peace, happiness and much more love in our world in 2026!

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Poached Pear Baked in Puff Pastry

Sweet and creamy pears lightly scented with cinnamon and vanilla encrusted with crisp, buttery golden brown puff pastry.

Ingredients

• 4 medium Pears
• 5 cups Water, enough to cover the pears
• 1 1/2 cups Granulated white sugar
• 3 Tbsp. Honey
• 3 Cinnamon sticks
• 1/2 Vanilla bean, split lengthwise

For the Egg Wash

• 1 large Egg, slightly beaten
• 1/2 Tbsp. Heavy cream
• Pinch Kosher salt

For the Assembly

• 1 sheet store-bought frozen puff pastry, thawed Thaw overnight in the fridge.

Instructions

• Prepare a cartouche, also known as a parchment paper lid. Cut a parchment circle to fit inside the sauce pan. Cut a small round or vent in the center of the parchment paper.
• Slice off about 1/4 inch from the bottom of the pear to create a stable flat surface. Core pears from the bottom. Peel pears, leaving stems intact. Set aside.
• In a medium heavy-bottomed sauce pan combine water, sugar, honey, cinnamon sticks, and vanilla bean. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.
• Gently submerge pears on their side in the pot. Cover with the cartouche. Simmer for about 15 minutes, flip pears halfway through cooking, until pears are tender. Do not overcook the pears. They continue cooking after simmering.
• Remove the pot from the heat. Cool pears to room temperature in the poaching liquid. Transfer pears and liquid to an airtight container and let pears soak in liquid overnight in the fridge.
• Remove the chilled pears from the fridge and drain on a paper towel. Set aside.

To Make the Eggwash:

• In a small bowl, whisk together egg, heavy cream and salt until smooth. Set aside.

To Assemble:

• Unroll or unfold the thawed puff pastry. Cut out four squares to cover bottom of pears. Slice remaining sheet into 1/2 inch side strips.
• Before wrapping the pears, brush thoroughly with the egg wash.
• Place pears on the baking sheet and gently encase the bottom of the pear with the puff pastry square.
• Beginning at the bottom, wrap puff pastry strip around the pear, leaving the stem exposed. Repeat with remaining pears. Space pears at least 3 inches apart from each other on a parchment lined baking sheet.
• Lightly brush puff pastry exterior with egg wash. Bake for 30 minutes or until puff pastry is golden brown.
• Allow to cool 5 to 10 minutes before serving warm.

Notes

You may choose to garnish with a drizzle of honey or dust with powdered sugar before serving. Cinnamon scented whipped cream is also a nice touch.