Vanilla-Spiced Caramel and Pear Tart

Sometimes you bake something and you know it's special. This is one of those times. This tart is made with a puff pastry and the filling includes butter, vanilla bean, cinnamon, star anise, cloves, sugar and egg. There isn't that much filling because I needed to leave a lot of room for the pears! Believe me, these were some happy pears. Before swimming in the filling, they had already spent some quality time in butter and sugar, with cinnamon, star anise, cloves and vanilla bean.

Yum!

 

Pumpkin Pear Crisps

This is a perfect solution for dessert or a non-traditional breakfast!

A pumpkin pear crisp is a compote made of pumpkin, pears, maple syrup, golden raisins, lemon juice, dark brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves and vanilla.  It's topped with a crispy crumble of oats, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, dark brown sugar and cinnamon.  The combination of pumpkin, pears and spices is wonderful!

It can be prepared as one large dish or in individual containers.