Red Wine Poached Pear Dessert
"A luscious yet easy poached pear dessert recipe — the perfect and delectable dessert to serve to your friends or family. The red wine sauce in this easy pear recipe enhances the natural sweetness of the fruit with a kick of spice. Poached pears are an underrated French dessert that gives you full-blown flavor and adds excitement to any occasion. The process is so simple, yet the result is out-of-this-world. It has a balance of spice, sweetness, and fruitiness. "
NotesYou need to use fresh orange juice in this recipe. Store-bought orange juice usually contains added sugar — which will affect the flavor of the poaching liquid. You can substitute orange juice for pomegranate or cranberry juice, if you like. Apple juice is also a good substitute.
To perfect this dessert, one must use Bosc or Anjou pears. Both have a mild flavor that doesn’t interfere with the complex flavor of the poaching liquid. Also, they don’t become mushy while being poached like other pears do. Bartlett pears are a no-no since poaching them can make the fruit mushy and unappetizing to eat.
Serves5
Preparation Time5 min
Cooking Time30 min
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 8 whole cloves
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 2 cup red wine
- 1 cup orange juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 5 medium-sized bosc pears
Instructions
-
Place all the ingredients (except pears) in a saucepan.
-
Make sure the saucepan is large enough to fit all the pears.
-
Bring the red wine sauce mixture to a simmer while stirring to dissolve the sugar.
-
Peel the pears ONLY when the poaching liquid is ready to prevent discoloring.
-
Lower the peeled pears into the poaching liquid.
-
Let the pears poach in the liquid on medium-low heat for 30 minutes.
-
Rotate the pairs every 10 minutes to ensure even cooking.
-
Let the pears cool down in the poaching liquid.
-
You may serve this chilled or at room temperature.
-
Serve with your favorite vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.