Pear Walnut Chocolate Tart
This pear walnut chocolate tart is unique with a light, flaky pie crust, that crumbles with each bite and is full of chocolate, smooth walnut paste, and tender poached pears! (NOTE: Pictures were updated Sept 2020)
Welcome to Pie Fridays!
Thanks to you guys and the hubby, I will be giving pies some much-needed attention. From now till Thanksgiving I will be featuring a pie every Friday (except 11/15 since I will be traveling but more on that later).
Let’s start off with a pear walnut chocolate pie (or tart)! What a unique combination if I must say so myself.
After my recent pear photographing dilemma, I had to pay another homage to pears and start off Pie Fridays with this pear walnut chocolate tart. Call me stubborn but I couldn’t let those little guys win. I had a few pears left that were intended to remake this spiced pear bread. Have you tried the pear bread yet? You need to make it this weekend. It’s the best!!
But hey we are here to talk about pies.
This pie/tart is different and I love that about it. The crust is our usual buttery and extra flaky crust, thanks to the addition of shortening. However, the crust is filled with a smooth walnut paste and then topped with tender pears and chocolate chips. Sounds amazing right?
Well yeah, it is! Together, you have a buttery tart crust that crumbles with each bite and is full of chocolate. All that is missing is a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.
If you were like me and had a bumpy ride to making pies, fear not. It gets easier with the right temperature of butter and recipe. I hope this pie (and the rest to come) will inspire you to bake a pie or two.
Pear Walnut Chocolate Tart
This pear walnut chocolate pie is unique with a light, flaky pie crust, that crumbles with each bite and is full of chocolate, smooth walnut paste and tender poached pears!
Ingredients
- 1ยผ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons cold vegetable shortening
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ยฝ teaspoon salt
- 5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into cube sized
- 1ยฝ cups walnuts
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cube sized and at room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 large egg
- ยผ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- A pinch of salt
- ยฝ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large firm pear (I used Bartlett)
- โ cup semisweet or milk chocolate chips
Instructions
To make the crust:
- Prepare ¼ cup ice-cold water and keep in fridge. In a food processor, pulse the flour, shortening, sugar and salt until combined. Add in half of the butter and pulse for 30 seconds. Add in the rest of butter and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse meal. Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons cold water over mixture and pulse until dough comes together in clumps. If dry, add a little bit more water (1 teaspoon at a time). Remove dough from processor and form into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour. The dough can be made up to 3 days ahead. Keep chilled. Let stand at room temperature 15-30 minutes before rolling out.
- Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface and fit into a 9-inch round tart pan. Press the dough into the bottom and up the sides. Chill for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line the crust with foil and top with pie weights or beans. Bake crust for 15-20 minutes, until the edges are golden then remove the foil and pie weights and continue baking until the crust is golden all over, another 10-15 minutes. Let cool completely.
Make the filling:
- In a medium saucepan, combine 2 cups of water and sugar. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and add the pears. Simmer until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and spread onto paper towels and let cool.
- Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment and spread the walnuts. Toast in oven until golden, about 8-10 minutes. Let cool. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the toasted walnuts, powdered sugar, egg, cinnamon and salt. Pulse to form a paste.
- Spoon the walnut filling into the cooled crust and spread evenly. Press the pears and chocolate chips into the filling,. Bake until the filling is puffed and golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 35-40 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack. Serve with a scoop of ice-cream if desired.
Have a great weekend!! I will be adventuring onto a haunted hayride and hoping not to pee my pants.
Oh, I’m looking forward to Pie Fridays! ๐
This is such a unique flavor combo – love it!
Thank you Jennifer! I was unsure about pears and chocolate at first but I’m glad I gave it a try.
Pie Fridays! What a sweet way to start the weekend.
This pie looks delicious. Almost like a giant cookie.
Have fun on your haunted hay ride. I love to be scared (in a controlled situation).
Thanks Jamie! Pies are now my favorite relaxing weekend activity. Not the haunted ride for sure…I’m not a fan of scary things.
Oh girl!! I’m all kinds of excited about Pie Day Fridays!! I love pies but never make them… the idea of making the crust makes me all kinds of nervous. But this pie is absolutely gorgeous. I think you should take a slice with you to the haunted house so you can concentrate on that and not get scared!! {which I am a totally ‘fraidy cat and can’t even *think* about going to a haunted house… its giving me nightmares already for you!!}
I was too scared of pies a few months ago but once I found a good crust recipe I calmed down. And no amount of pie can save me tomorrow. I don’t watch scary movies or zombie things because I can’t handle them. But I don’t know how I got ropped into doing this haunted ride. I’m hoping my blood pressure doesn’t sky rocket lol!
YES! Pie Friday! I am in! Can’t wait to see what you are cooking up for us!
Yay!! I’m excited for Pie Fridays too. I finalized the selections last night and there are lots of good ones coming.
This is one beautiful pie, and since there’s fruit inside I’m going to call it healthy and eat 2 slices! ๐
Pamela I love your way of thinking. Fruits are always the best excuse. In cakes, muffins and pies :). Thanks for visiting!
That looks wonderful! Pie crust is definitely one of the things I have difficulty baking, but when I’m at home I just negotiate with my mom–she makes the crust and I do everything else!
Thanks Hallie. Pie crusts were my nemesis too for a while but I was able to defeat it with the right recipe. Hope u will give this crust a try next time ๐
Can you mail me a piece? It looks delish
http://www.southernmrsfit.com
Thanks Summer! I wish I could mail you a piece.
This looks wonderful, like a cookie in a pie!!!
It does look like a cookie now that you say that! The chocolate chips help :). Thanks Renee!! Hope you have a good weekend.
Oh yummy what a great combination
Thanks Erin!
Pie Friday? That sounds right up my alley! Gosh, this pie looks amazing, the pear + chocolate combo must be sensational ๐
Yes Pie Friday is happening! Only for a month though. The combination was very delicious and so very unexpected. Hope you have a great weekend (relaxing one!).
Zainab, as always, this is a gorgeous pie! Looks like a really good combination. Have pinned!
Thank you Erin!! Have a great weekend ๐
That pie sounds and looks so good!
Thanks dear!
This looks and sounds so interesting. I’ve pinned it! Thanks for sharing at Show Stopper Saturday!
Thank you for hosting!!
Oh my gosh, pie Fridays??? What a genius idea! I’m so excited for more pie! This one looks amazing, it reminds me toll house pie. Only better! Walnuts + pears + chocolate = perfection!
Yes!! I am excited too. I just made another one for dinner today and it’s coming this week. Thanks Allie. The combination of walnuts and pears and chocolate is just amazing!
Here you go again with a pear dish! Like I said about your Spiced Pear Bread, I’ve been thinking about making a Maple Pear bread, but I’m actually thinking about anything pear, and this looks LECKER (German for REALLY delicious). Thanks again for sharing on Saturday Night Fever!
Thanks Cheryl! A maple pear bread sounds delicious.
I love the sound of pie Fridays, and this is a great start! What a unique flavor combination — I’ve never paired pears with chocolate. It looks delicious!
Thanks Marcie! I was not quite sure at first of pear and chocolate but so happy to have tried it. What a unique combination.
Pies are some of my favorite sweets, so I’m super excited to see all of your recipes! Yay for pie crust with both butter and shortening!
Thanks Laura! Flaky crusts are a must for pies.
That is a gorgeous pie – like, the chunks of pear and chocolate are fabulous! I wonder what Nutella on pears would taste like … ๐ You did such a great job with this; it is making my mouth water!
Thanks Mary! And man, now I need to try it with nutella because that sounds just awesome.
This looks absolutely amazing. Love the pear/chocolate combo, sounds delicious.
Thanks Rachel!
ooh, this looks delicious! love the pear/chocolate combo! ๐
I would never have thought to combine pears and chocolate, but this looks divine. Truly a way to pay homage to pears, as you said. And your pie crust looks absolutely perfect — what a gorgeous pie/tart! I STILL haven’t made a pie this year. I need to fix that immediately!
Wow! It looks somewhat like a giant cookie. Love the combination of flavours. I’m going to have to try this!
Ya know, in 2 years of blogging I have never posted an ACTUAL pie. Hand pies, mini pies, but no actual pie! I love the pear walnut chocolate chip combo! Thanks so much for sharing this at Saturday Night Fever!
Ok, totally would have never thought of putting all of these together. After looking about it and thinking about the flavor combination it looks delicious! Love this homage to pies! ๐ Pinning and trying soon! ๐
I am over run with pears ATM. This would be fab to try.
this sounds so amazing. I’ve never had all these things together so the combination sounds great! I’ve featured this today on my blog. Thanks for linking up to Tasteful Tuesdays at Nap-Time Creations… I’ve shared about the round up on all my social media.. id love a retweet, share or repin :o) EMily
Hi Emily! Thank you so much for the feature. It’s an honor :). I’ll share the post around!
You’re killing it this week or you must know about my Wake Up Wednesday round up plans! I’ll be using this one too for my cakes & pies round up ๐
Thank you so much Meghan! I must have spied on your plans lol!