Red Wine Poached Pear Dessert

By: John Goins from winosity.com

By: John Goins from winosity.com

"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.

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Serves5

Preparation Time5 min

Cooking Time30 min

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
8 whole cloves
1 stick cinnamon
2 cups 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.