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Pear and Pistachio Tart

desserts baking cakes gourmet cuisine pastries prepared in advance sweet pies valentine's day
Updated on 31 December 2025 by
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Pear and Pistachio Tart
9 reviews 4.9 : Very good
Diet
Level
Calories
188 pour 100g
Preparation
2 hours 30
Cooking
1 hour 05

Here’s one of my most labor-intensive recipes, but it’s so delicious—I’m talking about the pear and pistachio tart.

If you want to pull out all the stops for a gourmet meal, I recommend serving this tart for dessert!

I based this recipe on the instructions in the book Traité de Miamologie – Les Fondamentaux de la Pâtisserie, Stéphan Lagorce, 180°, 240 pages. I highly recommend this series of books published by the team at 180°C magazine if you want to improve your cooking skills. They help you truly understand the recipe by delving into the physical and chemical properties of ingredients and how they transform.

As you’ll see, the process involves making a shortcrust pastry base, which is pre-baked. It’s then topped with a pistachio pastry cream, and finally, poached pear halves are arranged on top.

For my part, I’ve adjusted some of the proportions and added a few notes compared to the original recipe. To make this pear and pistachio tart, allow about three solid hours, including baking time. It does require several separate steps, but there are no major technical challenges.

But when it comes out of the oven, the result will be well worth your effort: melt-in-your-mouth pears, a rich bed of pistachio cream, all on a vanilla-scented shortcrust pastry that’s perfectly crisp… simply irresistible🤩!

I hope you enjoy every bite, and have a wonderful time in the kitchen carefully preparing this exceptional tart 😋

Thank you in advance for your comments!

Tarte aux poires et à la pistache : Portions

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Ingredients for Tarte aux poires et à la pistache

  • Pears in syrup
  • Image de pear
    2.2 lb of pears about 5–6 pears, depending on their size
  • Image de sugar
    17.6 oz of sugar in powder or chunks
  • Image de lemon
    1 lemon
  • Image de water
    4.2 cup of water

Tarte aux poires et à la pistache : instructions

  • Making the shortbread dough
    • 1
      Start by making the shortcrust pastry using the ingredients and measurements listed in this recipe, and following the instructions in the shortcrust pastry recipe.
  • Making the pistachio cream
    • 2
      First, make a pastry cream using the ingredients and proportions listed in this recipe, and following the instructions in the pastry cream recipe.
    • 3
      If you have whole pistachios, you’ll first need to grind them very finely in a food processor.
      The Chef's Tip
      Take breaks while grinding, and stop as soon as the pistachios are reduced to small grains. If you grind them too much, they’ll start to release oil, and the powder will turn into a paste!
    • 4
      In a mixing bowl, whisk together the pastry cream with the other ingredients listed in the "For the pistachio cream" section: softened butter, eggs, powdered sugar, ground pistachios, cornstarch, and rum.
  • Poached pears
    • 5
      Peel the pears, cut them in half, and remove the cores.
      Drizzle them with lemon juice.
      The Chef's Tip
      If your pears are perfectly ripe, you can skip the next steps (poaching) and use them as is for the topping!
    • 6
      In a saucepan, bring the sugar water to a boil. Reduce the heat so that the mixture is just simmering, and add the pear halves.
      Poach for 10 to 15 minutes depending on how firm your pears are.
      Be sure not to let the water boil; it should remain at a simmer.
    • 7
      Stop cooking as soon as the pears soften.
      Don't overcook the pears, or they'll lose their firm texture, and the whole pie will suffer—what a shame!
    • 8
      Once they are done cooking, remove the pears one by one with a slotted spoon and set them aside on a plate.
  • Final assembly and baking
    • 9
      Preheat the oven to 180°C. Gently
      spread the pistachio cream over the shortcrust pastry.
      The Chef's Tip
      You can use a spatula or a pastry horn to ensure you don’t lose any of this delicious filling.
    • 10
      You can now carefully arrange the pear halves on top of the filling, arranging them as artistically as possible (feel free to share your photos in the comments!).
      Sprinkle a little powdered sugar over the top.
    • 11
      Bake for about 35 minutes.
      Check on it after 30 minutes, and remove from the oven as soon as the top is golden brown.
      Let cool.

Notes

This tart is best enjoyed right away, as the pears will release their juices and eventually make the crust soggy. That said, I found that it still held up quite well after a night in the refrigerator.

WHAT TO DRINK WITH THIS PEAR AND PISTACHIO TART: A good Champagne is the perfect pairing for this gourmet dessert.

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