Description
These Poached Pear Puff Pastries are a stunning and delicious dessert featuring buttery, flaky pastry topped with tender, spiced poached pears glazed in syrup. Finished with a touch of thyme and served with vanilla ice cream, this recipe is elegant, cozy, and irresistibly golden.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 14 oz puff pastry (thawed if frozen)
- Coarse sugar, for sprinkling edges
- Fresh thyme sprigs, for garnish
- Vanilla ice cream, for serving
- Powdered sugar, for dusting
- 3 Bosc pears, peeled, halved, and cored
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons St. Germain (or elderflower liqueur)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
- 1/2 lemon
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon saffron
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2 teaspoons water (for egg wash)
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, combine water, sugar, St. Germain, vanilla paste, lemon, cinnamon, and saffron. Bring to a gentle simmer.
- Add the pear halves and poach for 15–20 minutes until tender but not mushy. Remove from the syrup, let cool, and pat dry.
- Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cut puff pastry into rectangles and score a smaller rectangle inside each one to form a border.
- Place a poached pear half in the center of each piece of pastry. Brush the edges with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
- Bake for 20–25 minutes until puffed and golden. Let cool slightly on a rack.
- Dust with powdered sugar, drizzle with a bit of syrup, and garnish with thyme sprigs.
- Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Notes
- Pat pears dry before assembling to prevent soggy pastry.
- For added shine, brush pastries with warm apricot jam after baking.
- Chill puff pastry before baking for the best rise and flakiness.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 pastry
- Calories: 320
- Sugar: 26g
- Sodium: 60mg
- Fat: 14g
- Saturated Fat: 8g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 42g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 4g
- Cholesterol: 45mg