The Best Elegant Pear-Walnut Chocolate Tart

Are you ready to bake a truly stunning, European-style tart that looks like it came from the window of a high-end patisserie? A sophisticated dessert that is guaranteed to be the show-stopping finale of your next holiday meal or special dinner party? This incredible, from-scratch Pear-Walnut Chocolate Tart is a masterpiece of textures and flavors that is sure to impress.

This isn’t just a recipe; it’s your guide to creating an unforgettable gourmet dessert. This tart is a symphony of four perfect components: a flaky, buttery crust, a rich and creamy toasted walnut filling, tender and sweet poached pears, and decadent pockets of rich, melted chocolate. While it has several components, our simple make-ahead plan makes this impressive project completely stress-free and achievable for any home baker.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Recipe Overview: A Sophisticated Holiday Showstopper

What makes this Pear-Walnut Chocolate Tart so spectacular is its incredible, multi-layered combination of sophisticated flavors and textures. The foundation is a crisp, fully blind-baked, from-scratch pie crust. This is filled with a unique and delicious creamy filling made from toasted walnuts—a wonderful twist on a classic almond frangipane. The filling is then studded with tender, sweet, poached pear chunks and rich, semi-sweet chocolate. It’s the ultimate make-ahead centerpiece for a truly special occasion.

Metric	Time / Level
Total Time	4 hours (includes chilling and cooling)
Active Prep Time	1 hour
Difficulty Level	Intermediate
Servings	8-10

Your Holiday Baking Game Plan (Make-Ahead Schedule)

The secret to this seemingly complex dessert is to make it in easy, manageable stages. This is the perfect timeline for a stress-free holiday.

• Up to 3 Days Ahead: Make the pie dough, wrap it tightly, and store it in the refrigerator. You can also toast the walnuts.
• Up to 2 Days Ahead: Prepare the creamy walnut filling and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. You can also prepare the poached pears and store them in their syrup in the refrigerator.
• 1 Day Before Serving: Blind-bake your pie crust. Let it cool completely.
• On Serving Day: Assemble the tart with your pre-made components, give it its final bake, and serve fresh and warm!

The Essential Ingredients for This Gourmet Tart

This recipe is built from three delicious, from-scratch components.

• The Flaky Pie Crust: The rich and tender foundation.
  • The Fats (Butter & Shortening): This recipe uses a classic, foolproof blend for the best of both worlds. Cold unsalted butter provides a rich, delicious flavor, while cold vegetable shortening creates an incredibly tender and extra-flaky texture.
• The Creamy Toasted Walnut Filling: This is the unique, nutty, and sophisticated heart of our tart.
  • Toasted Walnuts: This is the secret to the incredible, deep flavor of the filling. Toasting the walnuts in the oven for a few minutes before you grind them brings out their natural oils, making them much more fragrant, flavorful, and less bitter. It creates a wonderful, rich alternative to a classic almond frangipane.
• The Poached Pears & Chocolate:
  • Firm Pears: It is essential to use a firm baking pear that will hold its shape during poaching and baking and not turn to mush. A firm, sweet, and fragrant pear like a Bosc, Bartlett, or Anjou is a perfect choice.
  • Chocolate Chunks: Using good-quality semisweet or milk chocolate chunks (or coarsely chopping a chocolate bar) will create beautiful, decadent, molten pockets of chocolate throughout the creamy filling.

Step-by-Step to a Show-Stopping Tart

Let’s break this incredible project down into simple, manageable parts.

Part 1: The Flaky Pie Crust & Blind-Baking

Step 1: In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the 1 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour, the 3 tablespoons of cold shortening, the 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar, and the 1/2 teaspoon of salt to combine. Add the 5 tablespoons of cold, cubed butter and pulse until you have pea-sized pieces.

Step 2: Drizzle in 2 tablespoons of cold water and pulse until the dough just comes together. Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap, shape it into a flat disc, and wrap it tightly. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Step 3: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Roll out your chilled dough into a 12-inch round. Ease the dough into a 9-inch springform pan, pressing it into the bottom and 2 inches up the sides. Chill for 30 minutes.

Step 4 (Blind Bake the Crust): Line the chilled crust with foil and fill it with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 20 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and weights and continue to bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, until the crust is a deep golden brown all over. Let the crust cool completely on a wire rack.

Part 2: The Creamy Toasted Walnut Filling & Poached Pears

Step 1: Spread the 1 1/2 cups of walnuts on a baking sheet and toast in the 350°F oven for 8 to 10 minutes, until they are golden and fragrant. Let them cool completely.

Step 2: In a clean food processor, add the cooled, toasted walnuts, the 6 tablespoons of room temperature butter, the 1 cup of confectioners’ sugar, the 1 large egg, the 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, and the pinch of salt. Process until the mixture forms a creamy, smooth paste.

Step 3: To poach the pears, combine 2 cups of water and the 1/2 cup of granulated sugar in a medium saucepan and bring it to a simmer over medium-high heat.

Step 4: Peel the pear and cut it into 3/4-inch chunks. Add the pear chunks to the simmering syrup and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until they are just tender. Drain the pears and spread them on paper towels to cool completely.

Part 3: Assembling and Baking Your Masterpiece Tart

Step 1: Spread the prepared walnut filling evenly in your completely cooled, blind-baked crust.

Step 2: Gently press the cooled, poached pear chunks and the 1/3 cup of chocolate chunks into the surface of the walnut filling.

Step 3: Bake at 350°F until the walnut filling is puffed up, golden brown, and a toothpick inserted into the center of the filling comes out clean. This will take about 30 to 40 minutes.

Step 4: Transfer the finished tart to a wire rack and let it cool completely before releasing it from the springform pan and slicing.

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Storage and Make-Ahead Tips

This elegant tart is a fantastic dessert to prepare for a dinner party.

• Make-Ahead: As outlined in our “Game Plan” above, this is the perfect dessert to make in stages over a few days to make your holiday baking completely stress-free.
• Storage: The finished tart is at its best on the day it is made, but it will keep, covered, at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

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Creative Recipe Variations

1. Classic Almond Frangipane: For a more traditional, classic flavor, you can substitute the 1 1/2 cups of walnuts in the filling with an equal amount of blanched, sliced almonds.
2. Add a Sophisticated Liqueur: For an extra layer of delicious, grown-up flavor, you can add 1 tablespoon of a pear liqueur (like Poire Williams), an almond liqueur (like Amaretto), or a dark rum to the walnut filling.
3. Use a Different Fall Fruit: This beautiful tart is also absolutely stunning when made with tender, poached apples or even fresh figs instead of the pears.

Enjoy Your Elegant, European-Style Dessert!

You’ve just created a truly special, show-stopping dessert that is the very definition of rustic elegance. This Pear-Walnut Chocolate Tart is a perfect symphony of flaky pastry, creamy nutty filling, and sweet, tender fruit with a hint of rich chocolate. It’s a rewarding and impressive project that proves that you can create a truly spectacular, patisserie-quality dessert right in your own kitchen.

We hope you enjoy every last, perfect, and delicious bite!

If you enjoyed making this recipe, please leave a comment below or share it with a friend who loves an easy, impressive dessert!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)