Poached Pears in Spiced Syrup
These poached pears are poached in a sweet syrup spiced with lemon, ginger and star anise, and served with vanilla bean custard.
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Ingredients
- 5-6 cups water
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- peel from 1 small lemon
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 whole star anise
- 1 tbsp thinly sliced fresh ginger (peeled)
- ¼ tsp ground allspice
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- 4 Bosc pears (ripe but firm)
Instructions
- In a saucepan, combine the water and spices, and bring to a boil, then turn it down to a simmer.
- Slice a thin piece off the bottom of each pear so that they will stand upright when you serve them. Use a vegetable peeler to peel the pears, leaving the stems intact.
- Arrange the pears in the water, and if you need to, add a little more water so the pears are mostly covered with liquid. Cut a circle of parchment baking paper, poke a hole in the middle to vent steam, and place the paper on top of the water. The paper will keep the tops of the pears moist and prevent them from discoloring.
- Place the lid on the pan, and turn the heat to medium-low. You want a very gentle, slow and steady simmer, not a rapid boil.
- Let the pears poach in the spiced liquid for anywhere from 30-60 minutes (keeping the lid on), until a paring knife slides into one of the pears without any resistance. The pears should be soft enough that you can eat them with a spoon, but not falling apart.
- Use a slotted spoon to remove the pears and set aside. Now turn the heat up to high and reduce the liquid down to 1 cup of syrup. Strain the syrup and discard the whole spices.
- Serve the pears, spooning some of the spiced syrup over each. Poached pears are fantastic served with ice cream or vanilla bean custard.
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