Spiced Pear Pie
This delicious spiced pear pie uses ginger and nutmeg to enhance the sweet pear taste. All combined in a flaky pie crust.
This homemade pear pie is perfect for using in-season pears. The pear filling is lightly spiced with ginger and nutmeg to enhance but not overpower the delicate taste of the pears.
The pastry is my flaky yogurt pie crust, which is laminated to create delicious layers.
Ingredients
Check out the complete list of ingredients for this easy pear pie recipe in the printable recipe card below. Here’s what you’ll need:
- 9-inch double-crust pie dough. You can use a store-bought crust or make a homemade flaky crust.
- Fresh pears. The best pears in galettes, pies, and tarts can hold their shape when baked without going mushy. They should be ripe pears but still a reasonably firm pear. Bosc pears, Anjou pears, and Bartlett pears are good varieties.
- All-purpose flour – The pie thickener.
- Lemon juice and lemon zest
- Grated fresh ginger. Ginger is a perfect pear pairing. If you have no fresh ginger, you can use ground ginger.
- Ground nutmeg
- Vanilla extract or paste
- Soft brown sugar
- Whole egg to egg wash the top of the pie
Method
Pastry
Begin by chopping the butter into cubes. Add the cubes to a bowl and place them in the fridge or freezer for 10 minutes to ensure it’s cold.
Whisk the flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Add the cold butter to the bowl and use a pastry cutter or your fingers to cut the butter into the flour mixture into coarse crumbs. You want a few pea-size pieces of butter in there.
Add the yogurt to the bowl and stir until the dough comes together. Use a fork or your hands to combine the dough into a shaggy ball, and add in as much chilled water as needed, ½ a tablespoon at a time.
It should hold together easily when pressed but not be sticky. If the dough is crumbly, add a bit more water. If the butter has softened or the dough is warm, place it in the fridge for 30 minutes before continuing with the next step.
Roll the dough into a 10-inch/25-cm rectangle using a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface.
It doesn’t need to be perfect. Lengthen it to around that size.
Fold the top ⅓ of the dough down to the middle, then fold the bottom ⅓ of the dough up to make a pamphlet shape.
Turn the dough a quarter turn and repeat this roll and fold process once more.
Once finished rolling, cut the dough into two and use your cupped hands to shape each piece into a round disc gently.
Wrap the dough discs up tightly using plastic wrap or place them in a fitted airtight container. Chill it in the fridge for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days before using it.
Pear pie filling
Peel and core the pears. Use a sharp knife to slice the pears into equal ¼ – ⅛ inch slices.
Add the pear slices to a bowl and drizzle over the lemon juice, spices, sugar, and all-purpose flour. Toss together to coat.
Assembling and baking
Preheat the oven to 425°F/220°C.
On a lightly floured work surface, roll one of the dough discs into a 12-inch circle and drape it over a 9-inch pie pan, leaving an overhang.
Add the pear mixture to the prepared pie dish. You can mound the pears up in the middle of the pie to make them fit.
Roll out the second crust into a 12-inch circle on a lightly floured work surface. You can drape this second layer of the pie or create a lattice pie crust. If you’re not making a lattice crust, add 2-3 slits to the pastry’s top to allow steam to escape when baking.
Lattice top
Cut dough into 10-12 strips of dough, depending on how wide strips you prefer. I like 1-inch strips.
Lay 5-6 strips vertically on top of the pie. The longest strips will go in the middle of the pie, and the shorter strips can go on the ends.
Fold back every second strip halfway. Lay one of the unused strips horizontally in the middle of the pie.
Lay it over top of the strips that haven’t been folded back. Unfold the folded strips so they cover the horizontal strip.
Repeat this now but with the other vertical strips. Fold them back and add a horizontal strip, to create a weaved pattern.
Continue with the remaining strips until the whole pie is covered.
Cut off the uneven excess dough overhang. Leave enough overhang to roll and pinch together the pie’s top crust and bottom crust. Flute the edges of the pastry with your fingers.
Whisk the egg with a tablespoon of water.
Use a pastry brush to brush the top of the pie with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Bake the pie at 425°F/220°C for 15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350°F/180°C and continue baking for a further 60-75 minutes until the pears are soft and the filling is bubbling and the crust is a deep golden brown.
If the pie crust is browning too much at the end, loosely cover it with aluminum foil.
Let the pie cool down for at least 4 hours before slicing. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
More pie recipes
Spiced Pear Pie
This fresh pear pie uses ginger and nutmeg to enhance the sweet pear taste. All combined in a flaky pie crust.
Ingredients
Pastry
- 312g (2 ½ cups) all-purpose flour or pastry flour
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 226g (1 cup) butter, cold and cubed
- 120g (½ cup) natural yogurt, cold (see notes for substitutions)
- Ice-water as needed
Pear filling
- 1.4kg/ 3lb pears ( I like to use Bosc, Anjou or Bartlett pears)
- 100g (1/2 cup) soft brown sugar
- 30g (1/4 cup) all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon fresh ginger, finely grated (or 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Topping
- 1 egg + 1 Tablespoon of water
- Turbinado sugar
Instructions
Pastry
- Whisk the flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Add the cold butter to the bowl and use a pastry cutter or your fingers to cut the butter into the flour mixture into coarse crumbs. You want a few pea-size pieces of butter in there.
- Add the yogurt to the bowl and stir until the dough comes together. Use a fork or your hands to combine the dough into a shaggy ball, and add in as much chilled water as needed, ½ a tablespoon at a time. It should hold together easily when pressed but not be sticky. If the dough is crumbly, add a bit more water. If the butter has softened or the dough is warm, place it in the fridge for 30 minutes before continuing with the next step.
- Roll the dough into a 10-inch/25-cm rectangle using a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface. It doesn't need to be perfect. Lengthen it to around that size.
- Fold the top ⅓ of the dough down to the middle, then fold the bottom ⅓ of the dough up to make a pamphlet shape. Turn the dough a quarter turn and repeat this roll and fold process once more.
- Once finished rolling, cut the dough into two and use your cupped hands to shape each piece into a round disc gently.
- Wrap the dough discs up tightly using plastic wrap or place them in a fitted airtight container. Chill it in the fridge for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days before using it.
Pear pie filling
- Peel and core the pears. Use a sharp knife to slice the pears into equal ¼ - ⅛ inch slices.
- Add the pear slices to a bowl and drizzle over the lemon juice, spices, sugar, and all-purpose flour. Toss together to coat.
Assembling and baking
- Preheat the oven to 425°F/220°C.
- On a lightly floured work surface, roll one of the dough discs into a 12-inch circle and drape it over a 9-inch pie pan, leaving an overhang.
- Add the pear mixture to the prepared pie dish. You can mound the pears up in the middle of the pie to make them fit.
- Roll out the second crust into a 12-inch circle on a lightly floured work surface. You can drape this second layer of the pie or create a lattice pie crust. If you're not making a lattice crust, add 2-3 slits to the pastry's top to allow steam to escape when baking.
- Cut off the uneven excess dough overhang. Leave enough overhang to roll and pinch the pie's top and bottom crust together. Flute the edges of the pastry with your fingers.
- Whisk the egg with a tablespoon of water. Use a pastry brush to brush the top of the pie with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Place the pie in the refrigerator until the oven is at temperature.
- Bake the pie at 425°F/220°C for 15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350°F/180°C and continue baking for a further 60-75 minutes until the pears are soft and the filling is bubbling, and the crust is a deep golden brown.
- If the pie crust is browning too much at the end, loosely cover it with aluminum foil.
- Let the pie cool down for at least 4 hours before slicing. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Notes
*The yogurt can be substituted with sour cream or buttermilk, or use more ice-water and add 1 Tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 414Total Fat: 19gSaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 49mgSodium: 317mgCarbohydrates: 59gFiber: 5gSugar: 25gProtein: 5g
This is an informational estimate only. I am not a certified Dietitian or Nutritionist
