Wine-poached Pear Pie

5 from 2 votes

This pear pie is made special by poaching the pears in a wine syrup first. The filling is lightly spiced and flavorful, assembled in an all-butter pie crust for a stunning fall dessert.

Prep Time40

Cook Time1 30

Total Time2 10

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: slices

Calories: 671kcal

Author: Janice Lawandi

Equipment

Ingredients

Wine-poached pears

750 mL wine red for a more robust wine flavour, a light rosé or white for a milder taste
250 mL water
200 grams granulated sugar
1 cinnamon stick(s)
1 vanilla bean split
1 slice lemon peel no pith
1.8 kg pears peeled, cored and cut in half—I recommend Flemish Beauty or firm Bosc/Bartlett pears

For the all-butter crust

250 grams bleached all-purpose flour
5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
15 mL granulated sugar
230 grams unsalted butter cut into cubes, cold
125 mL cold water

For the pear filling

1 batch wine-poached pears
50 grams granulated sugar
15 mL tapioca starch
1.25 mL ground cinnamon
1 large egg(s) beaten
Turbinado sugar

Metric - US

Instructions

Wine-poached pears

Heat the liquids with everything but the pears. Bring the mixture to a boil.
Add the pear halves and bring to a boil again. Cover with a round of parchment and weigh everything down with a lid or a plate so that the pears are immersed. Reduce the heat so that the poaching liquid is just simmering. Poach the pears for 10 to 15 minutes. The pears should be fork-tender when they are done, but not to the point of breaking down or falling apart.
Strain the pears into a large container, then let the poaching liquid cool completely. Transfer the liquid to the container with the pears, cover, and let the pears soak for a couple days in the fridge before making the pie. You can make the pie the next day even, but the wine flavour might not be as pronounced.

To make the pie dough

In a large bowl, combine the flour, granulated sugar and salt. Drop in the cubed butter and press it and work it into the flour with your finger tips. Smoosh all the cubes of butter to flatten them out in the flour. Pour the cold water over top and then mix it with a fork. Finish with your hand, patting the dough into a disk.
Wrap the dough and chill for 20 minutes.
Roll the dough to a large rectangle (10x15-inch), then fold the top and bottom quarters over towards the centre, then fold it over again to make one 10-inch long rectangle. Press it gently together. Fold the dough in half to make a compact rectangle. Divide the dough in half, lengthwise, to form two blocks of dough. Tuck the corners of each block under to make a disk-like block, wrap each block and chill another 20 minutes.
Take one half of the dough out of the fridge, then roll it out into a big disk (about 11–12 inch diameter). Transfer the dough to a metal pie plate, working it down into the bottom edge and grooves. Trim the crust.
Refrigerate the bottom crust for 2 hours. Then proceed with the rest of the recipe

To make the pie

Preheat the oven to 400 °F (200 °C). Line a baking sheet with parchment. Drain the poached pears really well, then slice each half into 6 pieces.
In a large bowl, toss the pear slices gently with the sugar, tapioca starch, and cinnamon.
Transfer the filling to the chilled crust.
Roll out the second disk of dough to a large circle, at least 12 inch diameter. Cut out shapes or strips to make a lattice. Arrange the top dough (or strips) on top of the filled pie, trim and tuck under the ends, and crimp or press the edges together. Brush the top crust with the beaten egg and sprinkle with turbinado. Place the unbaked pie in the freezer for 30 to 45 minutes (or even overnight).
Place the pie on the parchment-lined baking sheet and bake the pie on the bottom rack for 30 minutes. Turn down the oven to 350 °F (175 °C) and continue baking for another 50–60 minutes until the filling is bubbling and the crust is golden brown.
Let cool at least 1 hour before serving (preferably longer)

Notes

This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!

Nutrition