Pear Desserts for The Fall Season

Delicious pear desserts make the perfect autumn treat. Varying in taste, different kinds of pears can be juicy and buttery sweet, citrus or melon-like, or spicy in flavor; making them a versatile ingredient for both sweet and savory dishes.

Pear season kicks into gear in the late summer and continues throughout the fall and winter. There are more than 3,000 varieties of pears grown around the world. Of the most common pear varieties, Bosc and Anjou are best for baking, especially for pies and tarts because they keep their shape. Bartlett pears (the most popular pear in the United States) work well as a lunch box snack or for canning, but tend to turn mushy when heated, so they aren’t the best for baking pear desserts.

Sweet pears “pair” well with other fall favorites like cranberries, vanilla, apples and caramel, along with spices like cinnamon and nutmeg.  Additionally, because pears are related to apples, they can often be substituted in many recipes that call for apples.

We’ve highlighted several of our favorite pear desserts below in addition to yummy pear butter and cider.

Pears also taste wonderful and lend a mild sweetness to savory dishes. They make a bright addition to salads and make a tasty sweet candied glaze for ham.

Tips for Baking Pear Desserts:

1. Peel the skin off pears before baking. Pear skin tends to grow tough when it gets hot.
2. Use firm, not overly ripe fruit.
3. Store ripe pears in the refrigerator. To ripen pears, keep them at room temperature. To speed up ripening, place pears in a paper bag or place them close to a banana.
4. Pears turn brown when they ripen. You can slow the process down by dipping some varieties of pears in water mixed with lemon juice.

Cranberry Pear Pie – Cranberry and pear lovers, we have the pie recipe for you! This delicious pie is lightly sweet and perfectly tart.

Caramel Apple Pear Pie with Salted Pecan Caramel Sauce – The flavors of fall meld together in this warm and delicious crowd-pleasing pie.  Feel free to make this one ahead of time as it is even more delectable the next day.

Vanilla Bean Pear Butter – Comforting and delicious, this homemade pear butter is enhanced with the flavors of pure vanilla beans for a delightful treat on biscuits, bread and more.

Slow Cooker Spiced Pear Cider – Warm up with a cinnamon and clove Spiced Pear Cider.  A perfect warm-up for those cold winter days.

Roasted Pear Tarts – Roasted pears sit atop a layer of fresh vanilla pastry cream and are nestled in a light and flaky puff pastry.

Spiced Pear and Walnut Coffee Cake – This coffee cake is a modern twist on a Southern staple. This warm, spicy, sweet and moist cake is best served with coffee, tea or a cold glass of milk.

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