In this pear custard pie, fresh pears are combined with a rich and creamy 5 minute custard, then baked to perfection for a simple yet elegant dessert.
This crustless pie is my absolute favorite way to enjoy pears, I make it almost every week during the fall months!
I am not a huge fan of pears. I like them fine when they’re cooked but I don’t eat them raw, I think it’s the somewhat grainy texture that bothers me. A long time ago before we had kids a relative sent us a big box of those fancy mail order pears. My husband did his best to try and eat them before they turned to mush but it was just too many pears for him to finish. I made this pear custard pie to use them up and I have been making it ever since. It’s definitely my favorite way to eat pears.
We go through a ton of produce in this house. My kids are total fruit monsters and between the three of them they can polish off a whole pound of grapes or strawberries in one sitting when they’re in the mood. My mom often brings us bags of apples, oranges and pears to help keep our household well stocked in the fruit department. When I have extra fruit on hand, I make blackberry salad or this pear custard pie.
Some weeks we don’t get through all the fruit and that’s when I make pear custard pie. The beauty of this recipe is that it only uses pantry staples that you probably always have lying around. Which means that if you’ve got pears, you can whip this up whenever you feel like it. I’ve made it twice in the last two weeks!
How do you make pear custard pie?
The batter for this custard is made in the blender. After you peel and cut the pears, toss them in the dish and pour the custard over the top. That’s all there is to it, 40 minutes later you’ve got an amazing dessert.
You can sprinkle some powdered sugar over the top if you want to dress it up for a special occasion. I’ve also put some cinnamon sugar on top which is great too. It probably comes as no surprise that the kids love this recipe. I’ve made it dozens of times over the years and it always gets rave reviews. It’s simple, but sometimes the simplest recipes are the best, don’t you think?
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Pear Custard Pie
Ingredients
- 4 firm pears of any variety cored, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup of unsalted butter melted
- 3 eggs
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- Powdered sugar for garnish
- Cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9 inch round pan with cooking spray.
- Arrange the pear slices in the pan.
- Put the butter, eggs, milk, salt, granulated sugar, flour and vanilla into a blender; process until smooth.
- Pour the batter over the pears. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the custard is golden and firm to the touch. Dust the top with powdered sugar before serving.
Could you use cornstarch instead of AP flour in this recipe?
I don’t believe it would work in the same way although I haven’t tried this myself!
This recipe is amazing.
My family loved it. I’m French so I couldn’t resist and I DID make some substitutions.
For example….Vanilla used to be very expensive. I am an oldtimer and I remember that a lot of recipes from the old days seem to have underrepresented its amounts due to this expense. However, the flavor is scrumptious and we can afford to use more of it today!
2 TABLESPOONS OF VANILLA
AND
Use one half cream and one half milk instead of all milk
Use GF flour instead of regular flour if you have gluten sensitivity.
I used
Bob’s Red Mill GF Baking Flour one to one
PS If you don’t have enough pears, not to worry, the custard is delicious and the recipe is improved with even more of it.
Yummy and very easy to make.
Going to make this today because I got a bunch of “seconds” pears from and orchard and you can only eat so many. Can you eat this warm from the oven or does it have to cool first? You don’t say anything about the custard having to set.
It’s fine to eat warm, wait about 10 minutes after it comes out!
Love this recipe…it is definitely a keeper. I’ve added cinnamon and nutmeg to spice it up and it’s even better! And because we are Nutella fans, we sometimes smear some Nutella and it kicks it up even more!
Can I make this dairy free with a coconut milk or oat milk alternative?
I think it would work although I haven’t tried it myself!
I used creamy Oatmilk. I couldn’t tell any difference. Normally, I use canned evaporated milk for custard recipes…..nice smooth texture and very handy. One can makes two Pies with this recipe.
One won’t last long, so might as well make two right off while the oven is hot.
Can I make this in a 12 inch cast iron skillet or a 9 inch pie plate?
Either is fine, I’d probably use the pie plate!
can I make this with pear and cooking apple I have a glut of both
Yes that’s fine!
I haven’t tried apples, but might work if cut very thin and an appropriate variety — maybe need to peel first, also.
Easy recipe and turned out delicious! Can this custard pie be made with peaches instead of pears. I have peaches at home that I need to use up.
Yes peaches should work!
Glad to find this recipe. We have pears on the tree this year & this is a wonderful, easy recipe for using our fresh pears. It is also a quite healthy dessert. Next time, I will use a deeper dish & double the recipe.
Very good. Tried to do like it was pictured, in an iron skillet. I only have a 10”. It worked perfectly. I may have put in a few extra pear slices, all I had. My family was getting tired of fresh pears at every meal. Now we can have a little break. Fruit custard is even Great for breakfast !!! Not having a crust makes this recipe go together fast. Thank You!!!
This is an absolute winner! I made this today at lunchtime and it was gone by dinner time. Unbelievably easy for such a delicious recipe. Light, fluffy, just the right amount of sweetness. I didn’t even garnish with powdered sugar. I picked up more pears to make this again. Probably tomorrow.
Hi, my Dad loves this recipe. I always double the custard. I have a lot of pears and rhubarb I want to use.. do you think rhubarb would be a good addition to this? Any suggestions/ ideas? Thanks
Rhubarb would work, you may want to coat the sliced rhubarb in a little sugar so it’s not too tart!
Can I leave at room temperature before serving or should this be refrigerated? I’m making ahead of time for a dinner party . Thanks
Room temperature is fine for a few hours! After 2-3 hours I’d refrigerate.
Do you put the ingredients in a blender not a mixer?
Yes it’s a blender!
O.M.G this was soooo yummy! Light and delicious! And waaajy easy to make! This is a definite keeper fav!
Hi. it’s my 1st time making the custard pear pie. Friend of mine has a pear tree and gave me tons of them. Hope it turns out great 👍 🙏 😋
Hi! I am curious to know what kind of pears you used? My friend also has a pear tree but we can’t figure out the variety! They are small, hard, and green. We think they are an old fashioned “cooking pear” but aren’t sure. How did your custard pie come out?
Hope this info helps:
Unlike other fruit, pears do not ripen properly when left on the tree. They are one of the only fruits that must be picked unripe and allowed to ripen off the tree. If left on the tree, a pear will over-ripen from the inside out and the center will be mush and rotten before the outside gets soft.
I place my fresh picked pears in a brown paper bag for a few days to ripen & they are sweet, juice, & delicious but hard when 1st picked.
You may not know this but all pears have to be picked green, they do not vine ripe. If you let them vine ripe they will rot on the inside of the fruit. Pick them when they are green and hard and let them sit in a bowl on the countertop until they ripen. When they are ready to eat they can be put in the fridge for a few days to preserve them.
Someone brought me a ton of canned pears and I have no clue what to do with them. I don’t particularly like to just sit and eat pears. That being said, do you think canned pears would do well in this recipe?
You could try it but they may get overly soft during the baking process!
I loved this recipe. It’s healthy and super quick to make.
Can I make ahead and freeze?
That should be fine!