This has to be one of my favorite easy puff pastry desserts. It's a fresh pear tart made with only 5 ingredients - pears, cinnamon, sugar, cream cheese and puff pastry. Here's a photo of the finished product.
5-Ingredient Recipes
It's originally from a friend's cookbook -- Super Easy Cookbook for Beginners: 5-Ingredient Recipes and Essential Techniques to Get You Started in the Kitchen.
When I first got the book, I let my daughter "test drive" it by making the cinnamon pear cream cheese tart on her own. I put the ingredients on the counter and left the house so she could do her thing without me hovering. She made the tart perfectly without messaging me with questions. It's that easy.
Best Pears for Cream Cheese Tarts
With only 5 ingredients, there's not a lot to say about this one other than pick the best pears you can find. I like using Bosc pears for this one because they hold their shape well, but Anjou pears are also great for baked tarts such as this. You could also use Comice pears since the bake time is so short. Bartlett's work too if that's all you have, though they will release a bit more juice and bake up a little mushier -- not bad, just not as good as the other pears mentioned.
More Pear Recipes
Recipe
Cinnamon Pear Cream Cheese Tart
Ingredients
- 2 large pears, peeled, cored and cut into long, thin slices
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided use
- 1 large sheet of puff pastry
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Mix the pears with the 2 tablespoons of sugar in a medium bowl. Set aside for 30 minutes while the puff pastry is defrosting on the counter.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Unfold the pastry sheet and place it on the prepared baking sheet. Roll it out so that it's a few inches bigger all around.
- In a small bowl, beat together the cream cheese and ½ cup sugar either by hand or using an electric hand mixer. Gently spread the cream cheese mixture on the pastry dough.
- Drain any liquid from the pears and place the slices on top of the cream cheese in neat, overlapping rows, leaving ½ inch all around the outer edges of the pastry sheet. Sprinkle with cinnamon.
- Bake the tart for 16 to 20 minutes or until the edges of the pastry are golden brown.
- Cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.
- Technique Tutorial: The best way to roll out pastry dough is usually a rolling pin. If you don't have one, a tall drinking glass or wine bottle will do the trick.
Sue Kelly says
The tart looks great and the book sounds wonderful! We can all use recipes with short ingredient lists and basic techniques!
Sonya says
This sounds SO good! I realized it's pretty similar to a favorite recipe of mine that uses an almond filling and apricot jam glaze instead of the cream cheese. I would bet good money that this simpler version is just as tasty! And thanks for mentioning the cookbook - I will recommend it to newbie cooking friends!
Anna says
Kathleen, she still has one more year of high school so we get a little more time with her. I've had this blog since she was about 4 years old.
Kathleen says
This looks delicious. I can’t believe your daughter is heading to college. When I first started reading cookie madness she was a little girl. Time flies!
Anna says
Cindy, I might make the next one with apples just for fun :).
CindyD says
This looks gorgeous, however, I don't like pears! But I bet apples would work.