Honey Pear Pie

A double crusted pie filled with sweet pears and caramelized honey. This delicious honey pear pie embodies the warm flavors of fall.

This pie <3

I’ve been thinking about this pie for awhile now. For many different reasons.

When most of us think about fall desserts, our first thoughts are of pumpkin and apples and even cranberries. Pears seem to be forgotten. And it seems like such a shame, especially since pears have the most amazing flavors and texture when baked.

For this pie, I wanted to keep it simple so that the flavor of pear can stand out on its own. I love the crispness of fresh pears baked in a buttery crust, the caramelized honey bubbling through the weave of the lattice top, the crunch of the coarse sugar sprinkled on top of the crust. What is there not to love?

But this particular pie holds a special place in my heart. And for some time, I wondered if I wanted to make a pie this Thanksgiving. Most of you know that my grandma passed away earlier this year. And it’s been really hard on me and my family. But Thanksgiving is hitting me the hardest.

For the last few years, every Thanksgiving I debuted a new dessert pie. My grandma generally only eats Chinese and Vietnamese food with a few exceptions like pizza. But for some reason, to all of our surprise, she really loves my pie. And during Thanksgiving, she always eats most of whatever fruit pie I made that year.

Last year’s was apple pear pie.

This will be the first Thanksgiving without her. And it’s been so hard leading up to this holiday season. Every single time I think about our dessert pie, I get emotional. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to make it this year. But in the end, I wanted to out do all those other years and make a pie that she would have loved and been impressed with.

So this year, I kept it simple with this honey pear pie.

This honey pear pie is for Gma, who loved my pies more than anyone else in this world. I miss you more than words can ever say. <3

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Place a pie crust dough into a 9 inch pie dish and crimp or flute the edges to your liking. Refrigerate the pie crust in the dish while preparing the pear filling.

In a large bowl, whisk together all purpose flour, brown sugar, ground cinnamon, and ground ginger until combined. Add pears sliced into 1/3 – 1/2 inch thick into the bowl. I used ripe Barlett or Anjou pears. You want the pears to be ripe but not overly ripe. Mix until all the pears are coated with the flour mixture.

Pour the pear filling into the pie dish and arrange the pears in an even layer so that they will bake evenly. Drizzle honey all over the top of the filling and let the honey fall into the crevices. Refrigerate while preparing the pie lattice.

To create the pie lattice, cut a 9 inch pie crust dough into 1 inch strips. To make a regular lattice, take the strips and arrange half of them parallel to each other vertically, spaced about a half inch apart. Fold back every other strip, and lay down a strip horizontally. Lay the folded strips down, and lift the unfolded strips to make the lattice weave. Continue to do this until all the strips are used.

To make the braids, slice a 1 inch strip into three smaller even strips. Carefully braid the strips and weave these into the lattice. You may need an extra pie crust to do the braided version. It just depends on how tightly you weave the lattice. If there’s more space between each strip, you won’t need as much pie crust. If the strips are tight against each other, you will need more pie crust.

Here are better instructions on how to make a lattice crust.

Mix together the beaten egg and a tablespoon of milk. Brush the eggwash over the lattice crust. This will help give the crust that golden brown look. Sprinkle coarse sugar over the crust.

Place the pie dish on a baking sheet so that if the pie filling bubbles over, it’ll fall onto the baking sheet instead of in the oven. Bake the pie at 400F for about 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 350F, and bake for an additional 45-50 minutes. The honey will bubble and caramelized, the pears will have softened.

Let the pie sit and cool for about 3 hours so that the filling will thicken before slicing into it. If you slice the pie before it completely cools, the pie will fall apart. The cooling period is super important. I obviously didn’t wait the entire 3 hours so the filling wasn’t thick enough yet.

Serve the honey pear pie warm or cold. You can garnish with pomegranate arils for a pop of color.

Enjoy!

Oh, and don’t forget, last chance to enter my three year blogiversary giveaway.

Honey Pear Pie

 

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Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

1 hour

Total time

1 hour 20 mins

 

A double crusted pie filled with sweet pears and caramelized honey. This delicious honey pear pie embodies the warm flavors of fall.

Author: Andrea Giang

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 6-8 slices

Ingredients

• 2 - 3 pie crusts about 9 inches in diameter
• ⅓ cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup all purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
• 5 medium ripe pears, Anjou or Barlett, peeled and sliced about ⅓ - ½ inch thick
• ⅓ cup honey

Egg wash

• 1 large egg, cracked and beatened
• 1 tablespoon milk

Garnish

• Coarse sugar
• Pomegranate arils

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
2. Place a pie crust dough into a 9 inch pie dish and crimp or flute the edges to your liking. Refrigerate the pie crust in the dish while preparing the pear filling.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together all purpose flour, brown sugar, ground cinnamon, and ground ginger until combined. Add pears sliced into ⅓ - ½ inch thick into the bowl. Mix until all the pears are coated with the flour mixture.
4. Pour the pear filling into the pie dish and arrange the pears in an even layer so that they will bake evenly. Drizzle honey all over the top of the filling and let the honey fall into the crevices. Refrigerate while preparing the pie lattice.
5. To create the pie lattice, cut the pie crust into one inch strips. Weave the strips over and under to create the lattice pattern.
6. Mix together the beaten egg and a tablespoon of milk. Brush the eggwash over the lattice crust. This will help give the crust that golden brown look. Sprinkle coarse sugar over the crust.
7. Place the pie dish on a baking sheet so that if the pie filling bubbles over, it’ll fall onto the baking sheet instead of in the oven. Bake the pie at 400F for about 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 350F, and bake for an additional 45-50 minutes. The honey will bubble and caramelized, the pears will have softened.
8. Let the pie sit and cool for about 3 hours so that the filling will thicken before slicing into it. If you slice the pie before it completely cools, the pie will fall apart.
9. Serve the honey pear pie warm or cold. You can garnish with pomegranate arils for a pop of color.

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