Mulled Poached Pears
Poached pears seem like such a power move to pull out for dessert when you’re hosting. How fancy! How French! What no one tells you is how INCREDIBLY easy they are to make. It truly is just a matter of peeling some pears and simmering them in wine for a while. These pears also soak up a great cinnamon-y slightly citrus flavor and come out soft enough to easily slice through with a spoon. I prefer to halve mine before poaching them since half a pear is both a reasonable serving size AND much less unwieldy to try and eat with a spoon, especially flat-side down. You can leave yours whole if presentation is important to you, but be aware that they will take longer to cook through than I have listed in this recipe. This recipe serves six, accounting for a half-pear per person.
Also, the syrup that comes out of this is SO good. I usually have a bit leftover after serving up the poached pears and will eat it spooned generously over vanilla ice cream for a midnight snack. Just FYI :)
Ingredients
3 ripe pears (anjou or bartlett, preferably)
1 bottle sweet red dessert wine
1 cup simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water)
1 cinnamon stick
1 vanilla bean OR 2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 piece of ginger (about 1 inch long)
2 tsp. whole cloves
Peel or zest of one orange (avoid the bitter white pith)
Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream to serve.
Directions
Peel the pears and cut them in half, leaving the stems intact. Set aside.
In a medium pot, combine the wine, simple syrup, cinnamon stick, vanilla, orange peel, cloves, and ginger. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently.
Carefully add the pears to the pot, ensuring they are as submerged as possible.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the pears are very tender when pierced with a fork.
Remove the pears carefully into a separate bowl and set aside.
Let the syrup in the pot continue to simmer until its about half its original volume, another 20-30 minutes or so.
Strain the syrup into a serving bowl and plate up your poached pears.
To serve, top each pear half with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and drizzle with the warm syrup. Enjoy!
