In the movie “City of Angels,” when Seth (Nicholas Cage) asks Maggie (Meg Ryan) to describe to him what a pear tastes like, she says, “Sweet, juicy, soft on your tongue, grainy like sugary sand that dissolves in your mouth.” It’s the perfect description for this unpretentious little fruit.
We don’t have pears in the Philippines so I’d never tasted them before coming to America. My mother-in-law (who was Dutch) loved them, though, so I always made sure to buy some whenever she came to visit. I learned to love them because of her. This recipe is actually one of the very first pies I learned to make when I arrived in the United States as a teenager. It’s an easy recipe and has long been one of our family’s treasured favorites.
PEAR PIE
- 1 unbaked, 9-inch, deep dish pie crust (store-bought frozen, or make your own)
- 2 pears (Anjou, Bartlett, or Bosc pears are good for baking)
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup white sugar
- ⅓ cup flour
- ¼ cup melted butter
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- Preheat oven to 400ºF.
- Line pie crust with parchment paper or foil and fill bottom with pie weights or dried beans.
- Bake pie crust for 8 minutes, then remove parchment paper and pie weights, and continue to bake another 3-5 minutes until light brown.
- Remove crust from oven and set aside.
- Lower oven temperature to 350ºF.
- Peel, core, and slice each pear into 8 wedges for a total of 16 wedges.
- Arrange pear slices in pie crust like spokes of a wheel with narrow ends toward center and overlapping. You can slice portions of the narrow ends off to make them thinner and easier to overlap and fit in the crust. I usually take one of the pear slices, cut the thicker end off and lay it over the center to cover the overlapping ends. Also, you may not need all the pear slices depending on how big your pears are.
- In a medium bowl, beat eggs and sugar together.
- Add flour, melted butter, and vanilla and beat until well combined.
- Pour custard over pear slices.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes or until custard jiggles slightly in the center when shaken.
- Cool completely before slicing and serving.
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