Elegant pastry-wrapped poached pears made with homemade rough puff pastry, gently spiced syrup, and baked until golden for a beautiful, classic dessert.
Puff pastry pears
Updated : 02 January, 2026
Easy
More than 1 hour.
Ingredients
For the rough puff pastry
200 grams
Flour
100 grams
Butter
100 grams
Lard
1
Eggs
2 tablespoon
Sugar
For the poached pears
6
Pear
300 grams
Sugar
500 milliliters
White wine
2
Cinnamon stick
1
Oranges
Table
Table of volume measurements:
- teaspoon - 5 ml
- dessert spoon - 10 ml
- tablespoon - 20 ml
- glass - 200 ml
Preparation
Step 1
You will need to freeze your butter and lard before making this dish.
Step 2
To make the rough puff pastry, place the flour in a bowl and grate in the butter and lard. Using a knife, gently toss the fats through the flour so they are well coated. Pour in 120-150ml (4-5fl oz) of cold water and mix until the dough comes together into a firm ball.
Step 3
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll it into a rectangular shape. Fold the top third down, then fold the bottom third up and over. Rotate the dough 90 degrees (a quarter turn) and repeat the rolling and folding process. Cover and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.
Step 4
Repeat the rolling, folding and chilling process twice more, giving a total of four folds and turns. Wrap the pastry in cling film and keep refrigerated until needed.
Step 5
To prepare the poached pears, peel the pears, leaving the stems intact. Place the caster sugar into a large saucepan with 400ml (14fl oz) water, the white wine, cinnamon and orange zest. Heat gently, stirring until the sugar has dissolved, then bring to the boil and cook for 3 minutes.
Step 6
Carefully add the pears to the pan. Return to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, lift the pears from the syrup, reserving the liquid, and place them on kitchen paper to cool. Once cool enough to handle, remove the cores using a melon baller or small teaspoon.
Step 7
Put the reserved syrup back over a high heat and boil rapidly for 10-15 minutes, until reduced by half and thickened to a syrupy consistency. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
Step 8
When both the pears and syrup have cooled, roll out the chilled pastry into a rectangle measuring 60 x 20cm (23½ x 8in), keeping the thickness no more than 5mm (¼in).
Step 9
Using a sharp knife and ruler, cut the pastry into long strips approximately 8mm (⅓in) wide. You should end up with around 18-20 strips.
Step 10
Brush each pear lightly with the cooled syrup. Starting from the base, wrap the pastry strips around the pears. When one strip ends, brush the tip with a little syrup and attach it to the next strip, continuing until the pear is fully wrapped. Around three strips should cover each pear. Tuck the final end neatly behind the previous pastry spiral.
Step 11
From the remaining pastry, cut out six leaf shapes. Score vein details into each leaf with a sharp knife and attach one beneath the stem of each pear using a little syrup.
Step 12
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Arrange the pastry-wrapped pears on a baking tray, brush the pastry with beaten egg, and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
Step 13
Once baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes. Serve warm, drizzled with the reduced sugar syrup.
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