This is pear tarte tatin made simpler. A classic French dessert, tarte tatin is a rustic fruit tart served upside down. Caramelized with butter and sugar in a skillet, the fruit is then baked beneath a blanket of pastry doughโwhich becomes a crust once flipped. Depending how you make it, the recipe is often quite technical and complicated. I simplified the process as much as possible without compromising flavor.
One reader, Maria, commented: “I am an average baker at best. I made this today and it turned out perfectly! I served it warm and we almost licked our plates. I followed the recipe exactly as written. I will be making this again. โ โ โ โ โ “
There are many ways to make tarte tatin, and my team and I tried a lot of them! After several recipe fails, we finally cracked the code on how to make a deliciously spiced pear tarte tatin that turns out consistently every time. It may not be the way they teach it in French pastry school, but our goal was to take a somewhat-daunting recipe and make it approachable and achievable for home/hobby bakers.
That is always my goal when I teach you.
What Is Tarte Tatin?
Tarte tatin is named for the Tatin sisters who created it and served it at their hotel in France in the 1880s. It’s essentially fruit, usually apples or pears, caramelized in butter and sugar on the stove, topped with a round of pastry dough and baked; to serve, the dessert is inverted onto a plate so the caramelized fruit is on top and the pastry becomes a crust beneath it.
Sort of like an apple upside down cake, but more saucy and made with pastry instead of cake.
Pretty simple, oui? Mais, non. ๐ Perfecting pear tarte tatin, which only has about 8 ingredients, proved to be a much bigger challenge than my team or I expected.
Recipe Testing Tarte Tatin: What Works and What Doesn’t
My team and I tried puff pastry (both homemade rough puff pastry and store-bought), which is what many tarte tatin recipes call for, but we had much better success with pie dough. The puff pastry was not cooking through properly; leaving layers basically raw. If we extended the bake time, the fruit would burn. Pie dough was flaky and perfectly cooked through. Delicious!
We tried caramelizing the pears on the stove, which is a step in most tarte tatin recipes. However, this over-cooked the pears. It also encouraged the pears to release more liquid in the caramel sauce before it hit the oven, which caused the caramel to burn and taste bitter. So, skip pre-cooking the pears as the recipe instructs below. Less work!
We also tried cutting the pears into smaller slices. Again, the pears over-cooked. Pear halves cook into a tender, but not mushy, consistency.
And finally, in one of the last test recipes before completely giving up, we switched from white granulated sugar in the topping to brown sugar. We had MUCH more consistent success when using brown sugar. The caramel didn’t burn at any point in the recipe process, it thickened wonderfully, and the brown sugar also added a little more flavor.
Phew! I think that was it. Get ready for tarte tatin success.
Start With a Quality Pastry Crust
This is actually the same dough we use to make apple galette. Many tarte tatin recipes call for puff pastry, but we had much better success with this crust vs. the puff pastry dough we tested at first. See recipe testing saga above!
This is a similar recipe to my all-butter pie crust, but it’s *slightly* sweeter and yields just 1 crust instead of 2. (But feel free to make the full pie crust recipe and use half for another single-crust pie like pumpkin pie, or freeze half for a future tarte tatin!)
I love how thick this crust is… think multiple flaky, buttery layers of crust for the sweet caramelized pears to nestle into. And it bakes through thoroughly, so no soggy crust situation here.
Ingredients You Need:
- Pears: You need about 5โ6 small, semi-firm pears. See below for information on the best varieties of pears to use.
- Lemon or Orange Juice: A little fresh citrus juice brightens up and enhances the natural flavor of the pears; the fruit tastes a bit flat without it.
- Spices: Cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Just enough of each to provide a warm flavor that complementsโnot overwhelmsโthe caramelized pears.
- Butter: One half of the caramel sauce.
- Brown Sugar: The other half of the caramel sauce.
Best Pears to Use in Tarte Tatin
Use small, somewhat-firm Anjou pears. Bartlett, Bosc, or Comice pears are all wonderful choices, too. But you want to use pears that are small and still fairly firm so they’ll hold their shape when baking.
*Some recipes instruct you to dry out the pears before using, to help prevent them from releasing too much liquid. I did not find that necessary, especially since we aren’t pre-cooking the pears on the stove and we’re using a thicker brown sugar caramel sauce.*
Peel, slice lengthwise, cut out the stem, and scoop out the core. I use a small cookie scoop for this, but you can use a melon baller if you have one, or carefully cut out the core with a knife. Toss the pears with the lemon juice and spices.
Cook the Caramel on the Stove
Many recipes call for caramelizing the pears on the stove first, but we found this step unnecessary (and ended up with several ruined batches of burnt pears). Instead, you’ll cook the butter and brown sugar together, and then take it off heat before adding the pears.
I use a 10-inch cast-iron skillet for this, but if you don’t have an oven-safe skillet, you can cook the caramel in a saucepan, and then pour the caramel into a pie dish.
Assemble the Pear Tarte Tatin
Arrange your pears over the hot caramel in the pan, core-side-up. You want to pack them in as tightly as possible. Once the tart is inverted after baking, you’ll be rewarded with a beautiful landscape of caramelized pear halves over top of the crust.
Roll out the pie dough and drape it over the pears. Don’t worry if the pie dough isn’t perfect; it will taste divine! There’s no crimping or fluting required, and you don’t even need an egg wash. Use a spoon to gently tuck the edges in around the pears.
Dock the crust with a fork to create some steam vents.
Bake, starting at a higher temperature at first to really begin browning and baking through the crust.
Let cool for about 10 minutes, and then very carefully (do it over the sink!) invert the warm tart onto a large (larger than the skillet) plate or serving platter.
Voila! And, for a little extra ooh la la, serving this spiced pear tarte tatin a la mode with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream is always a great idea. Bon appetit!
Yes, certainly. Apples, apricots, peaches, plumsโall good. Core, cut in half, place rounded-side-down in the caramel. Proceed as directed.
You absolutely can, but it’s really difficult for it to cook all the way through without burning the caramel or pears.
Yes. The instructions remain exactly the same.
This recipe is part of Sally’s Pie Week, an annual tradition where I share a handful of new recipes that fit into the pie/crisp/tart category. Join the community below!
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Pear Tarte Tatin (Made Simple)
- Prep Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes (includes crust chilling)
- Cook Time: 55 minutes (includes caramel)
- Total Time: 2 hours, 45 minutes
- Yield: serves 8
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: French
Description
This is pear tarte tatin made simpler. A classic French dessert, tarte tatin is a rustic fruit tart served upside down. Caramelized with butter and sugar in a skillet, the fruit is then baked beneath a blanket of pastry doughโwhich becomes a crust once flipped. Depending how you make it, the recipe is often quite technical and complicated. I simplified the process as much as possible without compromising flavor. See step-by-step photos above and carefully read through the recipe before beginning.
Ingredients
Crust
- 1ย and 1/2 cups (188g)ย all-purpose flourย (spooned & leveled), plus more as needed
- 2 Tablespoonsย (25g)ย granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoonย salt
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) cold unsalted butter, cubed*
- 1/4 cup (60ml) ice-cold water, plus more as needed
Topping
- 5โ6 small, semi-firm pears (about 1.5โ2 lbs.)
- 1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon or orange juice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmegย
- 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp; 56g) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
Instructions
- Make the crust: Whisk the flour, sugar, and salt together in a medium bowl. Using a pastry cutter or 2 forks, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse pea-sized crumbs. Add the water and stir until the flour is moistened. Add 1โ2 more Tablespoons of water if the dough seems dry. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and, using your hands, work the dough into a ball. Flatten it into a thick disc. Wrap the dough disc in plastic wrap or parchment paper and refrigerate it for at least 1 hour, and up to 3 days.
- As the dough chills, prepare the pears: Peel, halve lengthwise, and scoop out the seeded core of the pears. Remove the stem, including the bottom part of the stem. Place the pears in a medium bowl, and toss gently with lemon/orange juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger, until evenly coated. Place the bowl in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use the pears.
- Make the caramel sauce: Melt the butter in a 10-inch oven-safe skillet over medium heat, or use a heavy-duty medium saucepan. Once the butter has melted, whisk in the brown sugar. At first it will look very separated, like it doesn’t want to combine, but that’s ok. Just keep whisking. Cook, whisking occasionally, for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes while you roll out the crust. (If you used a saucepan for the caramel, pour it into an ungreased 9 or 10-inch pie dish.)
- Preheat oven to 400ยฐF (204ยฐC).
- Assemble: Roll out the chilled dough into a circle about 11โ12 inches in diameter (it doesn’t have to be perfect!). Arrange the pears, cut-side up, in the skillet. Drape the pastry crust round over top of the pears. Gently tuck in the edges of the crust around the pears with a spoon. Dock (prick) the crust with a fork, to allow steam to escape.
- Bake for 20 minutes, then keeping the tarte tatin in the oven, reduce the temperature to 375ยฐF (191ยฐC) and bake for 25 more minutes, or until the crust is golden-brown.
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes on a cooling rack, and then carefully invert the tart onto a large serving plate or platter. I recommend doing this over the sink to catch any possible spills. Use extreme caution as the caramel sauce and fruit are very, very hot.
- Slice and serve warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream, if desired. Cover and store leftover pear tarte tatin in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: The dough can be made ahead of time and chilled in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. It can also be frozen for up to 3 months after preparing it in step 1. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before rolling out and filling. You can prepare the caramel sauce and assemble the pears on top a few hours ahead of time. Cover and keep at room temperature; do not be concerned if the pears brown, as they’ll cook soon anyway!
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowls | Pastry Cutter | Small Cookie Scoop | 10-Inch Cast-Iron Skillet | Silicone Whiskย | Rolling Pinย
- Butter For Crust: Make sure the cubed butter is very cold. After cubing, I like to chill it in the freezer for about 15 minutes before cutting into the dry ingredients.
- Best Pears to Use: Small, semi-firm pears are best. I typically use Anjou pears, but Bartlett, Bosc, and Comice varieties are also good choices.
Adapted from All Recipes
Reader Comments and Reviews
Can I do this with apples?
Hi Cathy, yes, absolutely! Core, cut in half, place rounded-side-down in the caramel. Proceed as directed.
I’m no baking aficionado and made this for the first time and it came out close to perfect. I followed the recipe exactly.
Thanks Sally! This one’s a keeper.
I made two Pear Tarte Tatin today .
Both turned out very well for the first attempt.
Thank you for this recipe
I could fit about 3 pears in here, I don’t know why the recipe called for 5-6! Seemed like a waste, especially when the pears cost $12. Oh well. Otherwise this turned out tasty!
Tried following recipe but the caramel did not work. I threw it away and tried again. Second time it was also a fail.
Hi Linda, I’m so sorry you had trouble with this recipe. Can you give any more feedback on how the caramel didn’t work? Any other details can help and maybe I can assist in troubleshooting.
This was elegant and delicious, I loved it!
I am an average baker at best. I made this today, and it turned out perfect! I served it warm, and we almost liked our plates. I followed the recipe exactly as written. I will be making this again.
Great recipe, some quick helpful suggestions.
-Use a small sauce pan to heat up the caramel, then transfer to a pie plate to cool. I had better luck assembling (tucking the crust) with a cooler caramel.
-I use an all butter crust, what you’d use for a bottom pie shell (1.25 Cups flour, 1 stick of u.s. butter, and 3 tbsp of vodka or water)
-I had better luck and aesthetics with 4 pears (8 halves, all pointing to the center of the pie plate). Peel and season pears leaving in fridge before assembly.
-I recommend baking in a pie plate as opposed to a skillet, again, letting that caramel cool to room temperature before assembly. The pie plate was also easier to manage once the tarte came out of the oven and was inverted to a plate.
-When tucking the crust, be sure to lift edge of the crust under each pear so that on inversion, the pears are on the inside of the crust and not hanging over. Having everything cold makes managing the crust much easier.
addendum to my 12/19 comment. I realized in my butter crust pie crust notation I omitted the sugar and salt. 1/2 TBSP of sugar and ~1/3 tsp of salt. (Full recipe is 3/4 tsp of salt and 1 TBSP of sugar, with 2.5C of flour, and 1 cup of u.s. butter, 6 TBSP of cold water or vodka)
It’s not clear why you would pour the caramel sauce into a pie dish, when the instructions and pictures show the pears being placed in the same pan you made the caramel sauce in. And nowhere does it explain what to do with the caramel sauce once its in a different pie dish
Hi Kirsten, You do place the pears in the same pan you cook the caramel sauce. You then place the dough on top of that and bake it right in that same pan (we use a cast iron skillet). Once the whole thing is baked you will flip it upside down onto a pie dish or other serving plate. This is the same way you would serve an upside down cake. Hope this makes sense.
These were absolutely AMAZING and the whole family LOVED them, Thank you!!! Making them again for Thanksgiving ๐ This is a KEEPER for sure!!!
This recipe was easy and perfect. My pears were firm, and not very sweet, but they were perfection in the recipe. I halved the recipe and made it in a smaller pan. The leftovers, if you have any are equally delicious. Another awesome Sally recipe.
Firm pears are great for this! You definitely do not want soft. Thanks for trying it and reporting back!
Absolutely delicious and it turned out perfect!
I was very excited to try this as this was a technical challenge on the Great British Bake Off. but the crust was a miss. Iโve made an apple tart tatin with puff pastry & it was much better. I used the all butter crust and it was tough and chewy. The pears and caramel weโre absolutely delicious though! So Iโd make this again but with puff pastry.
I’ve successfully made your salted caramel recipe, but the caramel instructions for this recipe led to a burnt mess. I may not be able to salvage my sauce pan. I urge anyone trying to this recipe to be cautious and have extra ingredients on hand.
WOW, really fun to make, even though I was a doubter the whole recipe: I couldn’t fit all the pear halves into the dish, I thought the crust didn’t go on properly, and I thought the caramel was mushy. But it came out DELICIOUS in the end. I didn’t get all the stems out of the pears, but otherwise it was really straightforward and I will definitely be making this again for Christmas.
This was delicious and so easy to make.
Thank you for sharing all of your testing process Sally!! I love seeing it and it makes me love your website even more! I can’t wait to try this. It looks doable!
thank you for this recipe!! can’t wait to make it!!