Poached Pears

Poached Pears is one of the easiest and most delicious fruit-based desserts one can make. It is reasonably healthy (if you choose to ignore the extra sugar ;)), simple and elegant. 

It is as easy as cooking pears in a sweetened syrup/wine/orange juice/cider with a slew of interesting whole spices. The cooked, juicy pears are served with a drizzle of the syrup and some ice-cream for added indulgence. But I prefer just the pears with a little syrup. So comforting and good. Plus, poaching pears in spices makes the house smell wonderful and Christmasy, even if it is April and there is still snow on the ground. 

There really is no necessity for a recipe, because this is as versatile and creative as it can get. The poaching liquid can be as complex or as simple in flavor. You can customize it with ease and infuse your own creative flair. I also don't think the type of pears makes such a big difference. I have poached Bartlett pears, Bosc pears, and cute Seckel pears. To my palate, everything tastes good and they all retain their shape! I even poach apples. So, I would recommend using any fruit similar to pears and apples for a delicious poached dessert!

Here's how I poach pears.

Ingredients (serves 4-6):

1. 3 Bartlett pears, sliced in quarters 
2. 4 cups of water
3. 1/2 cup of sugar (reduce the sugar if your fruit is already very sweet)
4. 1/4 cup of honey
5. 1 vanilla bean
6. 2 star anise
7. 6 cloves
8. 5 green cardamoms
9. 1 cinnamon stick
10. Rind / peel of half a lemon
11. 2 pinches of saffron
12. 1/4 cup cranberries
13. 3-4 pitted prunes, chopped

Preparation:

1. In a sauce pan, add water, sugar, and honey and mix slightly. 
2. Throw in all the spices and lemon rind - star anise, vanilla bean (the bean and the scraped seeds), cloves, cardamoms, cinnamon, and saffron
3. Add the pears and cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar and honey dissolve.
4. Continue to cook on low-medium heat until the pears are soft and cooked (if you insert a fork, it should go in smoothly). It took me about 25 minutes, but the cooking time will vary based on the type of pear and its ripeness.
5. Remove the cooked pears and lemon rind. 
6. Add cranberries and prunes to the poaching syrup and continue to cook for about 35 minutes on low-medium heat until the syrup reduces a little. Remove from heat and fish out the spices, leaving back the plumped cranberries and prunes.

 Serve the pears (slightly warm) along with a drizzle of the poaching syrup.