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Get ready to wow your friends and family with this beautiful pear chocolate hazelnut tart. With a buttery hazelnut crust, rich chocolate filling, and cinnamon-spiced pear, you'll be lusting after this decadent dessert.
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What makes this recipe special
When I think of desserts, I tend to gravitate towards fruit-based sweets. It's just me and my husband at home, and since he doesn't eat dessert, it's mostly just me stuffing myself on baked goods. Lemon poppy seed cake, mixed berry fruit focaccia, and strawberry poppy seed rolls are always easier to eat on a regular basis than having a slice of chocolate cake. But I was having a serious chocolate craving the other day, so I said, screw it. I'm making a pear chocolate hazelnut tart and eating the whole thing. No one can stop me, and no one can judge me. Besides, this tart has fruit, so it's slightly healthier, right?
If Ferrero Rocher transformed itself into a baked good, this pear chocolate hazelnut tart would be it. Imagine a hazelnut crust filled to the brim with silky dark chocolate and topped with cinnamon-spiced pears. I mentioned that my husband doesn't eat sweets, but I made him try one bite of this tart. His eyes immediately widened as he said, "Wow, that's good," so I know this one is a winner. Hopefully, you'll enjoy it as much as we did.
Ingredients
- Hazelnuts: Form the base of the crust, adding a sweet, nutty flavor. Use untoasted whole hazelnuts.
- Egg white: The egg white helps bind together the ingredients for the crust.
- Bittersweet chocolate: A type of dark chocolate with high cocoa content and less sugar. It has a rich, intense chocolate flavor with a slight bitterness. You can substitute bittersweet chocolate with semisweet chocolate if you prefer a slightly sweeter flavor.
- Bosc or Anjou pears: Bosc pears are known for their brown skin and sweet, juicy flesh, while Anjou pears have green or red skin and a slightly sweet flavor. Both are ideal for baking because they can hold their shape without turning mushy. You can substitute Bosc or Anjou pears with other pear varieties like Bartlett or Comice, depending on availability.
- Cinnamon: Helps season the pears, adding a warm fall flavor to the dessert. You can omit it if preferred.
Substitutions and variations
- Fruit: Try this recipe with apples instead of pears.
- Crust: You can substitute hazelnuts with almonds or pecans, or use a shortcut pastry instead.
- Gluten-free: Use gluten-free all-purpose flour in the hazelnut crust.
Recipe
Pear Chocolate Hazelnut Tart
Ingredients
Hazelnut crust
- 2 cups hazelnuts, skins removed (270 grams)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (125 grams)
- 2 tablespoons melted butter (28 grams)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar (50 grams)
- 1 large egg white
Chocolate filling
- ½ cup butter (113 grams)
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar, divided (133 grams)
- 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate
- 3 large eggs
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Pear topping
- 2-3 Bosc or Anjou pears peeled and cored
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (25 grams)
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a tart pan with cooking spray,
- Combine hazelnuts and flour in a food processor and pulse until finely ground. Add melted butter, sugar, and egg white, mixing until well combined. Press the hazelnut mixture into the pan and up the sides to create the crust. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool the crust completely.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.
- Make the tart filling. Melt butter with ⅓ cup sugar in a small pot over medium-low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Pour the butter over the bittersweet chocolate in a large bowl, stirring until the chocolate has melted.
- Beat together the remaining ⅓ cup sugar with 3 eggs using a whisk attachment until it's pale yellow and thickened, about 3-4 minutes. Add ⅓ of the egg mixture to the chocolate, stirring until well combined. Fold in the remaining egg mixture to the chocolate, adding ⅓ of the egg mixture at a time. Pour the chocolate filling into the hazelnut crust.
- Peel and thinly slice 2-3 pears about ⅛ inch thick. Arrange the sliced pears on the chocolate filling. Combine cinnamon with granulated sugar and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on top of the pears.
- Bake the tart for 40-45 minutes or until the edges have set. The center of the tart will still be a little wobbly. Remove from the oven and cool completely.
Notes
Step-by-step instructions
Step 1: Bake the hazelnut crust
Let's get started, shall we? This tart isn't as difficult as, say, my earl grey pie, but it still does require some work. The first step is to make the hazelnut crust.
The crust is made predominantly from hazelnuts. Add whole hazelnuts and flour to a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse sand.
You can also use hazelnut flour and skip this step if preferred. I can't seem to find hazelnut flour, so I found that this was more convenient.
Add egg white and butter to bind the mixture together, and sugar to sweeten it. Then mix until well combined and press the hazelnut crust into the pan.
Bake the crust for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Set aside the crust and let it cool completely while you prepare the fillings.
Step 2: Prepare chocolate filling
Now, let's move on to the chocolate filling. To avoid having an overly sweet pear chocolate hazelnut tart, we're going to use bittersweet chocolate.
Melt butter and sugar until the sugar has dissolved, and pour the mixture over the chocolate, stirring until the chocolate has melted. You can also heat the butter and sugar in the microwave if that's easier.
Beat the remaining sugar with eggs using a whisk attachment until the mixture is a pale yellow, about 3-4 minutes on medium speed.
Add ⅓ of this mixture to the chocolate, stirring to loosen up the chocolate. Then, fold in the remaining mix, adding ⅓ of the eggs at a time.
Step 2: Arrange pear slices and bake
Pour the chocolate filling into the hazelnut crust and arrange the sliced, peeled pears on top. Keep the slices about ⅛-inch thick to allow they to cook properly. If they're sliced too thick, the pears won't soften in time and will be difficult to eat with the tart.
If you want to be extra professional, you can first practice arranging the pears on a cutting board and then transfer them to the tart.
Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top of the pears and pop the tart in the oven for about 40-45 minutes or until the center is only slightly wobbly. It should still jiggle just a bit, just like cheesecake.
Cool the tart completely before slicing into this bad boy. You can also chill the tart overnight and wait to cut into it the next day if you can wait.
I did notice that when the pear chocolate hazelnut tart has chilled overnight, the hazelnut crust does soften up. Is this a bad thing? Absolutely not. It's delicious either way, with a crunchy crust or a softer one.
It's been two days, and I have worked my way through a quarter of the tart. Not bad progress, wouldn't you say?
For more delicious fall treats, check out this full list of fall desserts you need to try this season.
Make-ahead and storage
- Make-ahead: You can bake the crust the day before and store it at room temperature before filling.
- Store: Keep leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refridgerator for up to 1 week.
Frequently asked questions
You should use whole hazelnuts with their skins removed for the hazelnut crust. You can use hazelnut flour instead if preferred, and skip the step of grinding the hazelnuts with flour.
Yes, the pear skins can be tough, so it's best to peel them before arranging them on the tart.
More pear dessert recipes
Looking for more pear dessert ideas? Try these:
Nancy Johnson says
I made this over the weekend and it's already all gone in 2 days. The pears really help balance the chocolate so that it's not overly sweet and the crust was perfection.
Christine Ma says
I'm so glad to hear it! Thanks for giving my recipe a try