I’ve had this recipe now for almost 33 years.
It was given to me by the owner/chef of the Shire House Restaurant.
The restaurant is long gone, but it was one of our favourite places to eat when we lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The Shire House was located in Rockford, just a few miles from Grand Rapids.
I used fresh pears, peeled, cored and poached in sugar syrup.
But you can cheat and use canned pear or peach halves.
I’ve also made it with fresh apricots, which also need to be poached
and with fresh strawberries ,raspberries and blackberries.
You could also use a combination of fresh berries.
(No need to poach berries).
Shire House Cream Cheese Pear Tart
1 8 oz cream cheese
1 cup whipping cream
1 French Pie Crust (Pate Sucree)
Note: I’ve also made this using a graham cracker crust
Honey
powdered Sugar
Vanilla
6 poached pear halves (substitute other fruit)
Orange liqueur
Apricot Preserves
Poach Pears or apricots in 1 cup sugar to 2 cups water with 1 tablespoon of lemon added. Cook until tender. Set aside to cool.
Prepare and bake pie crust. Cool.
Whip cream cheese with honey. Sweeten to taste (I use two to three tablespoons). Whip cream with powdered sugar (again to taste) Add vanilla. Fold cream into cheese and add to cold pie crust. Decorate with pears (Make sure the pears are dried well).
Melt Apricot or Apple Jelly. Add a little orange liqueur. Spoon or brush over pears.
Handwritten recipe
Shire House Restaurant
thibeaultstable.com 
What a show stopper Ann..Wow.
Goreous – and fun to see a recipe from MI – I live in East Lansing, MI! Will you share your crust recipe please?
Oops – that should be gorgeous!
Such a versatile recipe Ann.
S2K, I used Michel Roux's Pate Sucree recipe this time. I've added a link above. You can also use a shortbread crust or a graham cracker crust.
OhhLala…that looks amazing!
Val, it really is. Can be adapted for all seasons.
I made and ate a lot of those!!! That was my brother Tom and Jim Powell’s place along with partners Tom McCormack, Pat Maloney, John Leonard, and Bob Thiel. I am Rick Powell. Thanks for posting this and saving it from obscurity! Although I am sure Jim remembers how to make it:)
Rick, We loved your brother’s restaurant. We ate their often. Another favourite recipe was the White Lady Soup and they also shared that recipe with me. I did have to scale it down since the recipe was for 80 servings. If I remember correctly they went on to own the Castle. We ate there a few times when we returned to Grand Rapids for a visit. I wish I had asked him for the recipe for his Veal meatballs before we moved back to Toronto. They were served as an appetizer. I had them every time they were offered. Please tell tell your brother that both of these recipes have been a family favourite for almost 40 years and that we have fond memories of the Shire House.
Rick, I went back through my files and I found the handwritten recipe I was given for the White Lady Soup. I added photos to my blog post.