Poached Pears in Red Wine Syrup

I wanted to post this recipe in time for Easter. (I’m also preparing for Christmas!) If you’re celebrating with family and friends this could be an option for you whether you’re having some other pudding or not. If you are having a second for dessert I would suggest serving some kind of chocolate fudge pudding or chocolate fondant. Chocolate and pears are a great combination I promise you! I must tell you now that this is a combination of two recipes. J has been making these since I’ve known him, but recently I have found one in The National Trust Complete Traditional Recipe Book by Sarah Edington. It’s ideal for special occasions and gatherings or even a romantic supper for two. For mega impact prepare this with the largest freshest sweetest pears you can find. They mustn’t be too soft because they’ll just crumble on you as you heat them up with the syrup and wine. You can also prepare them a few days ahead of when you want to serve them and keep them for up to five days in the fridge. It’s also easy to scale up or down – you only need one pear per person! As a guide for 6 people you’ll need:

500ml red wine
110g caster sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of ground ginger
6 large pears

In a stainless-steel saucepan, one big enough to hold all the pears upright, pour the wine, sugar, cinnamon and ginger. Heat these very gently until all the sugar has dissolved in the liquid. Then bring this to the boil and simmer for around 5 minutes.
Peel the pears with a good peeler as thinly as possible. Try not to remove a lot of flesh from the fruit, and leave the little stalk on the top, just because it will look nicer. Place the pears into the hot syrup and make sure you have enough so that the pears are completely immersed (it’s very important to pay attention not to burn yourself here), cover the pan and leave to simmer for around 15 to 20 minutes or until the pears are tender. They will also turn rich deep red in colour.
Remove the pears from the pan using a slotted spoon and place each one in a bowl. Taste the syrup for sweetness and add a tablespoon or so of caster sugar. Boil the liquid quickly without covering the pan to allow the wine syrup to reduce.
Some recipes tell you to let the syrup cool a little bit before you pour it on each individual pear. I, on the other hand prefer it hot (don’t ask me why but it’s so comforting) but this totally depends on your personal preference.

Just serve as is, plain, simple without any fuss. Happy Easter!

Rob x