This Chocolate and Pear Galette is the perfect combination of milky chocolate and sweet, juicy pears – nestled together in flaky puff pastry. The entire preparation takes only 15 minutes and the result is a perfect dessert for any occasion!

Why a pear galette?

One thing you should know about me is that I cannot stand wasting food. I can’t stand it! It truly makes me cringe right down to my core when I see people throwing food away. I was raised to be aware of the fact that my parents worked really hard for us to have everything that we did. As a young adult, I am SO GRATEFUL for that lesson (among a million others). In addition that that – it might sound cliche – but my heart physically aches for homeless people. Or people who have to stand and beg for money. I can’t help but spiral into a vortex of thought whenever I drive past them. I think about them almost as if I know them. About their lives and what could’ve gone so terrible wrong that they ended up there, when I’m sure thousands of them were once like you and I. Although I am aware of the many reasons that are likely that they did, I am also very conscious of the fact that we are all human. That we all have a story and things that we struggle with. And every time I do see them, I know deep down that often their only concern is what they are going to eat that day. 

So a lot of my initial kitchen creativity came from thinking of fun ways to finish what we had at home before it went off. And that is exactly how this recipe came about! 

I had pears that my mom gave me, but they were just sitting. And because I didn’t want to throw them out, I started dabbling with the ideas of how I could use them.

Can I substitute the pear for another fruit? 

The awesome thing about this recipe is that you can use whatever fruit you have on hand! I used pears because that’s what I had, but you could also use berries, plums, peaches, banana, apple… the list goes on! You may just need to add a bit more sugar to them. 

Why this Chocolate and pear galette is an absolute winner!

This recipe is so quick and easy, although once it’s served you would never say that’s it either of the two! It doesn’t require any intensive or time-consuming steps, no resting, rising or setting time, the clean-up is second to none, and the prep time is perfect for the busy bee who wants to serve something impressive. You can literally whip it up at the very last minute and still serve a delicious, crowd-pleasing dessert. 

One piece Galette vs 3 mini Galettes:

This recipe is interchangeable for both three mini galettes and one large galette. I chose to make three mini galettes because my puff pastry wasn’t broad enough to cut one large circle out of it. 

To make one large galette: Cut your thawed puff pastry into a large circle and follow the recipe directions. Place all of the ingredients onto your one piece of pastry.

To make mini galettes: Cut your thawed puff pastry into smaller circles (but not too small because we still want all of the filling to fit inside of them – and then fold. Follow the recipes direction, but divide the ingredients accordingly. 

INGREDIENTS and alternatives: 

• Pears: You can use any type of pears for this recipe. A note on ripeness: When pears are not ripe enough, they lack sweetness and juiciness. When they are overripe they can give off a bitter taste that has a bit of a fermented flavour. It’s best to use ripe pears if you want to achieve the best pear galette! 

• Puff Pastry: Please make sure that your puff pastry is thawed according to the packaging guidelines before making this recipe. (I placed it into the refrigerator overnight). 

• Milk Chocolate: Although you can substitute milk chocolate with dark chocolate, I recommend using milk chocolate. Mainly due to the fact that it is sweeter and adds a lighter flavor to the chocolate and pear galette compared with dark chocolate. You could also use Nutella and spread that over the puff pastry too. I haven’t tried it but I’m sure it would work out well!

• Lemon Juice: Any type of lemon juice will work well.

• Butter: The butter in that goes over the pears before baking is a MUST! It makes the pears and chocolate mixture extra gooey and delicious.

• Brown Sugar: Substitute with any other granulated sugar.

• Egg: For browning purposes, you can substitute the egg with milk, or melted butter.

• Vanilla Ice Cream: You can also serve with fresh cream, but the combination of cold vanilla ice cream and flakey, chocolatey, gooey pears is my personal best! 

Alternative Topping Suggestions?

Below are some delicious topping suggestions to enhance your chocolate and pear galette:

• Powdered Sugar
• Freshly Whipped Cream
• Caramel Sauce
• Chopped Hazelnuts (additionally, you can use a chocolate that has nuts in it to enhance the nutty flavour)
• Fresh Berries
• A Chocolate Drizzle

Below are some fruit topping ideas that can be used as substitutes for the pear in your galette:

• Sliced Apples with Cinnamon
• Berries
• Stone Fruits (peaches, nectarines, or plums)
• Bananas
• Mango

• Chilled Puff Pastry: To achieve a flakier pastry, it’s best for it to be cool to begin with! You can achieve this by either not overworking the pastry prior to baking, working quickly once you’ve removed it from the fridge or by popping it into the fridge for 10 minutes before you bake the pear galette. All of these options will result in the butter being colder and more solid. Leading to a flakier crust.

If you try this recipe, let me know what you think in the comments below!