Salted Caramel Pear Tart

I was inspired by a recipe I found on Bluebonnets & Brownies blog for pear bars. They looked delicious and I loved that they weren't the standard apple that we usually see. I finally got around to making something myself with pears.  I didn't have all the ingredients and wasn't in the mood to make my own dough, so I came up with this idea inspired from her original post.  For this recipe I used crescent dough because that's what I had in my fridge, but it would have been better with pie dough.  You could also make this flat on a cookie sheet with puff pastry if you wanted.  If you don't have pears, or if you don't like them, apples, plums, or peaches would also be delicious in this recipe.  Using the packaged crescent dough made this an effortless treat.  I think Blake's work will be happy tomorrow when I send him in with the left overs!

INGREDIENTS: 

Dough
1 pkg. crescent dough, pre-made pie crust, or puff pastry
Place into a baking dish or flat onto a cookie sheet. Make sure to spray the cookie sheet or baking dish you choose. I fit mine to have sides so that I could put more custard into the pan. Poke a few holes in the bottom with a fork.

Poached Pears
2  ripe pears -sliced
1 Cup water
1/2 Cup sugar
1 Tbs. Lemon Zest
1 tsp. Vanilla extract

Custard: 
2 Tbs. Sugar
2 Tbs. Flour
1/2 Cup Poaching Liquid
2 Eggs - beaten
1/2 Cup Heavy Cream 
pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place your dough into your chosen baking dish. Place in the refrigerator to keep cool while you prep the other items. Pre-heat your over to 350 degrees.

2.  For the pears, bring the 1 cup of water to a simmer on the stove. Add in the 1/2 cup of sugar and stir until melted.  Add in the lemon zest and vanilla.  Add the pears and poach for 4-5 minutes.  Remove from the heat and allow the pears to sit in the poaching liquid until you are ready to prepare the tart.

3.  For the custard, in a medium sized bowl, mix together the sugar and flour.  Slowly add the poaching liquid until well blended.  In a separate bowl beat together the 2 eggs.  Slowly add a few tablespoons of the sugar and flour mixture to the eggs to ensure they do not scramble.  Then add the two mixtures together.  Mix in the heavy cream and season with a pinch of salt. 

4.  Place your pears into your baking dish on top of the dough.  Slowly pour the custard mixture on top of the pears until almost completely covered.  Bake for 25 minutes or until custard is fully set.

5.  Top with your favorite caramel sauce and a sprinkle of sea salt.