Simple Cinnamon Pear Sauce & Sliced Pear Tart

It’s the first day of fall here in the confused state of Missouri and I am legit sweating through my clothing (what else is new) as I was a little aggressive getting dressed in my fall gear (aka jeans and a longer shirt to replace my usual short sleeve) in hopes that the weather man (who again, in Missouri, really needs to know absolutely nothing as every day there is a 50 percent chance of rain or shine) confused his 9 with a 6, and that no, it wasn’t really 90 degrees but a cool 60 & breezy.

Wishful thinking on my part as I’m about to embrace my fate, death by heatstroke & fashion faux-pas.

The color gray is just not in our favor yet St. Louis. Swampy rear-ends & sweaty pits are here to stay. Until they aren’t. And lets hope they aren’t very, very soon.

And to those cities without seasons and perfect weather? Damn you for your consistency, levelheadedness and deodorant sticks that barely ever graze your under parts.

*sigh*

BUT. Because there is always a but (what what). It’s officially fall!!!! And despite my negative grumble above I am seriously so excited, because I mean…. food! Fall recipes. A roasters heaven. Every Turkeys nightmare. My carnivorous dream. My zippers nightmare (however lately that seems to be a trend every season) and chunky sweaters to hide the zippers that fail to zip. Woohoo.

So to kick off the season I baked (okay maybe I baked this a couple of weeks ago, but I was saving it for a very special occasion, i.e.: today) Simple Cinnamon Pear Sauce & Sliced Pear Tart.

Recipe Notes:

This is so SIMPLE. Especially because you’ll be purchasing your puff pastry dough. Unless you’re amazing and choose to make it yourself (God Speed. I wish I had your patience).

Be sure to purchase RIPENED pears. Why? Because this is only in the oven until the puff pastry cooks, 18-20 minutes and you need your pear along with its juices to be released and soften the pear creating a perfect texture. If you use a hard unripened pear, it won’t be soft, hardly any juices will be released, and it will make for a drier tart with terrible texture. Trust me on this, I tested it.

When slicing the pears, I slice it much like I would a hasselback potato. Start from the top and slice down, but NOT through the bottom. This way the pear will keep its shape and won’t fall apart in the oven. Now. I understand also, mistakes can be made, and some hands are made of brick and just let their knife pierce through the bottom. That’s okay too, the flavor will not change, but just know that it may not be AS pretty if the pear falls apart and juices run all over the place when baking. Also core you pear (remove the seeds, easy to do with a spoon).

The pear sauce may be made ahead of time and just stored in fridge until ready to use. I sprinkled powder sugar over pastry for aesthetics, however the sweetness isn’t totally necessary (but definitely still tastes good). You may also serve with ice cream! Because ice-cream.

Simple Cinnamon Pear Sauce & Sliced Pear Tart

Prep time:  10 mins

Cook time:  40 mins

Total time:  50 mins

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Ingredients

Pear Puff Pastry

• 1 puff pastry sheet
• 3 ripened pears, halved, cored & sliced "hasselback style" (see notes)
• 1 tbsp butter, melted
• ¼ cup powdered sugar for topping

Pearsauce

• 5 ripened pears, peeled and chopped into ¼" cubes
• 1 tbsp water
• ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 cinnamon sticks

Instructions

Pear Sauce:

1. In a small pot add your pears, 1 tbsp water, maple syrup, cinnamon and cinnamon sticks. Set on stovetop to low heat and let simmer, covered, for 40 minutes, stirring halfway through.
2. Once pear sauce is finished remove from heat, discard cinnamon sticks and bring to room temperature. Store in air tight container in fridge (if not using immediately).

Pear Puff Pastry

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Roll your puff pastry sheet into a 9x13" rectangle (if not already rolled out) onto parchment lined baking sheet.
3. Next take your pear halves and evenly space them out onto sheet.
4. Brush pear tops with melted butter and set in oven for 18-20 minutes or until puff pastry is puffed and cooked through.
5. Remove from oven and let cool for a couple of minutes.
6. Divide your pastry into 6 individual squares (which will include one pear half per square) and sprinkle powdered sugar on top. Serve with warmed pear sauce. Eat.

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