Free-Form Apple Or Pear Tart Recipe (2024)

Roll the dough directly onto parchment paper and transfer to baking sheet without worrying.

If you make a successful crust and have nicely flavored apples, it's totally worth the effort. I always put the dough directly on a baking stone to roll out. Otherwise, it is difficult to transfer - like delicate shortbread dough. It gives it a nice touch to brush the edges of the crust with egg whites (hate to waste them.) I also brush the center of the crust with apricot preserves with a glob in the center, and then top the apples with crushed almonds which brown and deepen flavor.

Pear, pear, pear! Not hair!

This tart is absolutely delicious !!
The crust is divine and the dough can be patted out directly on the baking sheet...no rolling pin or parchment paper needed.
The tart I made was with pears and was even delicious three days after making.I plan to make it again with pears and again with granny smith apples and golden delicious apples.

Every year I get a box of Harry and David pears which all ripen at once. This was the perfect way to use them! This tastes phenomenal, buttery shortbread. Next time I will add a little ginger, and I wonder if a thin layer of almond paste under the pears would be too over the top?!Roll out the dough with the parchment paper on the top as well as the bottom piece (which transfers right to the cookie sheet), and you will have no muss no fuss , plus a clean rolling pin!

What a great dessert. I took the advice of some others and sprinkled on cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom. I also used turbinado sugar instead of brown sugar and sprinkled some sliced almonds on top. This is so beautiful and easy. I will be making this frequently.

I watched the video. I made the dough and it sat a good 24hrs in the fridge. I rolled it out with caramelized pears from last summer on top and boy oh boy was it good. My guests even said the finished product looked like a pizza. Conclusion: 2 thumbs up for this recipe especially the dough,

Last night I served a Free-Form Apple Tart dessert with ice cream to friends. Everyone raved about the short piecrust. What I didn't tell them was the great difficulty I had in transferring the rolled out dough to the parchment lined pan. The dough felled apart and luckily I was able to patch it together before baking. Anyone rolling out the must be sure to thoroughly flour both sides of the dough. Watch the video closely.

It looks so good - but can I use store bought pastry dough?

I added some chopped pistachios to the crust which added a bit of needed crunch. The suggestion from other commenters to add cinnamon and nutmeg on top also added some depth of flavor. I was worried the juciness from the pears would result in a soggy crust but it was perfect--esp with the pistachios. Yum!

I want to know how the photo managed to show all the apples slices with NO holes where they were cored? ;-) The magic of food styling? BTW this would work with a base of puff pastry as well.

I made a double batch. Worked perfectly. Took the advise of adding a good smear of apricot jam prior to adding sliced fruit. Also did half apple, half pear. Will now “mix” the two. Apple has the texture, pear has the taste.

This is NOT the best free-form tart i've made. The crust is ok, not great. The fruit needs to be tossed with a little sugar, maybe a bit of lemon juice, or something else to add a little moisture before arranging it on the crust. Also, instructions should be more clear that the fruit should be piled up in several layers. a single layer of thin slices is not good here.

Finely chopped ginger ( microplane it ) is a nice addition if you use pears. Cinnamon with apples.

I did this all with my hands, and it worked really well. floured my hands and cut the butter into small pieces in my palm, until the pieces of butter were small. I am sure they were still a bit bigger than they would have been with a food processor, but the dough came out well: flaky and tasty. You have to work quickly so the butter stays cold, but very possible!

This was a hit. Easy and delicious. I did a mix of apples - granny smith and gala. I added a sprinkling of cardamom, squeezed a lime over the apple slices before layering them and used coconut sugar. I also used Bob's Red Mill 1:1 gf flour. Fantastic.

I don’t like to combine apples and pears because they cook at different rates. I’ve tried slicing the pears thicker to account for this but always end up with mixed results. Great dessert otherwise!

Used almond paste in a thin layer between crust and pears and a combination of melted butter, Poire William, and rose petal jelly (could be any light-colored jelly) brushed on before baking. Splendid.

This is a great tart in itself and can also be enriched with your own touches. Better with very ripe fruit. No sogginess at all!. Added a bunch of blueberries on top of the pears. So delicious!

Delicious. Love the crust, which I rolled over the edge of the pears in a more traditional free form galette shape. I also used one third whole wheat flour, because... why not. I added sliced raw almonds, and then sprinkled on a bit more granulated sugar, and gave the tart/galette an extra ten minutes or so in the oven to ensure the crust was perfectly cooked. Did I say delicious? Great for breakfast too.

Mixed with a sour apple and pears. Apricot marmalade brushed on the crust. Mixed the fruits with brown sugar, raisins and walnuts. Crazy good.

Would this be good with fresh peaches?

I tossed the granny smith apples I used with a little cinnamon and granulated sugar. Then dotted a little butter over it. Baking it at 400 wasn't enough to brown the crust so I turned it up to 425 for ten minutes. Delicious! Next time I'll bake it at 425 for 20 minutes.

Excellent and easy. Used 3 ripe pears, 1/2 stick butter & 3T canola oil( equivalent of 1 stick of butter); rolled between 2 pieces of parchment and fingers to finish off. Served with whipped creamCould use peaches in the summer

Add water, at least 4/T to the food processor

Easy to make. Used Harry & David pears that were ripe, but crust surprisingly didn’t get soggy. I moved the tart to top rack for last 5 min to brown. Not too sweet which I like. Might sprinkle a little lime juice next time to make flavor more complex.

All the components are delicious but I couldn’t get the crust cooked through in the center. Any tips? Has anyone blind-baked this?

Dough is nice, but topping is kind of boring. Sliced apples with a mandolin.

So tasty… and so easy! I made almost exactly as written, with very ripe pears from a tree in the yard. The pears were very wet at first, but the juice cooked down to a thick, caramel-like sauce around the edges, which I had shaped with a slight lip to hold it all in. I patted and shaped directly on the parchment paper, as suggested here. Next time I’ll try to make it a little thinner, not because the thick crust isn’t delicious (it is) but because it will give more surface to cover with pears.

Excellent? Added apricot jam, sliced almonds and a bit of chopped rosemary on top and it was a KILLER!