Shapely and sophisticated, poached pears are always impressive. Luckily, this poached pear recipe is easy to follow and results in a delicious warmly spiced dessert. The syrup is infused with vanilla, orange zest, ginger, star anise and cinnamon. The best part is that this delicious poached syrup can be reused for cocktails and mocktails. It can also be refrigerated for up to 1 week.
Once done, simply serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a bright lemon sorbet or with a dollop of whipped cream. You can also thinly slice the poached pears and serve on a sponge cake or chiffon cake with sweetened whipped cream. It’s the perfect dessert for your holiday entertaining.
What is poaching?
Poaching involves submerging and cooking food in liquid over low heat for perfectly even cooking. In the case of this poached pear recipe, it means that your pears will cook gently while absorbing all the warm spices.
How do you know when a poached pear is done?
A poached pear is ready when its core is tender, and a knife can easily pierce through. This should take around 15-20 minutes, depending on the size and variety of your pear.
Festive Vanilla-Spiced Poached Pears
Ingredients
- 1 vanilla pod
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 6 strips orange zest
- 3 star anise optional
- 2- inch ginger thinly sliced
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 4 small firm pears Bartlett or Bosc or Anjou
Instructions
- Cut a circle of parchment paper slightly smaller than base of large pot; set aside.
- Using paring knife, cut vanilla in half lengthwise; scrape seeds out and scrape in same pot. Add sugar and using hands rub vanilla seeds. Add orange zest, star anise, (if using)ginger, cinnamon stick and 6 cups water to boil over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves.
- Meanwhile, peel pears, leaving stems intact. Using ½ tsp measure, core each pear through bottom.
- Reduce heat to simmer. Add pears; place parchment circle over top, pressing directly on pears. Place plate over paper to keep pears submerged for even cooking. Return to simmer; cook until tender in centre when pierced with knife, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat; let pears cool in syrup for 1 hour.
- Using slotted spoon, transfer pear to serving bowl. Remove the spices and reduce the poaching liquid over medium heat to 1 ½ cups; drizzle some of the syrup over top.
