Spiced Poached Pears

Spiced Poached Pears

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Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 6

Fragrant Bartlett pears poached in white wine with cinnamon and star anise make a simple winter dessert or easy brunch dish. Here we serve the pears chilled, which makes them ideal for a make-ahead winter brunch: Just poach them a day in advance and serve them straight from the refrigerator the next morning. They’re equally good served warm or at room temperature topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for a sweet ending to an easy dinner party.

Ingredients:

  • 6 Bartlett pears, peeled, with stems intact 
  • 1 bottle (750 ml) fruity white wine such as Riesling or Gewürtztraminer
  • 3/4 cup (6 oz./180 g) sugar 
  • 2 wide strips lemon zest
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 4 thin slices fresh ginger 
  • 4 star anise pods
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 3 cups (24 fl. oz./750 ml) water

Directions:

Place the pears in a large pot just wide enough to hold them standing upright. Add the wine, sugar, lemon zest and juice, ginger, star anise, cinnamon sticks and water. Place the pot over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, set a heatproof plate or smaller pan lid on top of the pears to keep them submerged and simmer gently until a paring knife inserted into the widest part of a pear easily pierces to the center, about 25 minutes. Remove the plate and let the pears cool to room temperature in the liquid.

Using a slotted spoon, lift the pears from the liquid. Cut them in half and, using a melon baller, remove the cores. Set the halves in a heatproof bowl.

Bring the cooking liquid to a boil over high heat and boil until it is reduced by two-thirds, about 20 minutes. Pour the liquid through a fine-mesh sieve held over the pears and let the pears cool once again in the liquid. Once cooled to room temperature, transfer the pears and liquid to a covered container and refrigerate until chilled, at least 3 hours and up to 2 days.

To serve, using a slotted spoon, transfer 2 pear halves to each plate. Spoon some of the syrup over the pears and serve. Serves 6.

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma, Essentials of Healthful Cooking, by Mary Abbott Hess, Dana Jacobi and Marie Simmons (Oxmoor House, 2003)

 

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