Vanilla Poached Pears - Be Bold with Coffee

Easy French recipe for Vanilla Poached Pears with a coffee twist. This extra light dessert is both gluten-free and vegan, plus a great recipe for entertaining. In fact, I'll be as bold as the coffee and say it's the best poached pears recipe ever!

French Desserts and the Art of Not Overdoing It

Let me spill some tea. When I first started entertaining the French (ho-hum around 1994 when Antoine and I thought I was ready), I learned the hard way. Heavy puddings were a big no-no.

Imagine British Sticky toffee pudding with apple after the cheeseboard. Although delicious, it somehow didn't win over the French. It was just too much. They were so polite but a crise cardiaque (heart attack) isn't the goal! Since then, I'm more about lighter for the waistline if we're doing the cheese too.

French Poached Pears - Michelin Style

So, my dessert game got a serious upgrade when I discovered Anne-Sophie Pic's French cookbook, Recettes Pour Recevoir (Recipes to Entertain). This Michelin-starred chef knows her stuff when it comes to entertaining.

Her poached pears in blackcurrant and vanilla caught my eye, especially the genius move of using a ton of poaching liquid. This step eliminates any pear bits sticking out, promising a flawless outcome.

My Take on Poached Pears - Easy, Breezy and Gluten-Free

To make life easy, I put my easy, breezy spin on it - enter Vanilla Poached Pears with Coffee.

I swapped out more lengthy steps of making a coffee fondant cake as a base and added my own twist by simply adding coffee to the poaching liquid. First try, and boom - gluten-free dessert magic.

Coffee makes this an original take, since traditional vanilla syrup or red wine are more commonly used in French recipes. If you love poaching in red wine, then try these Mulled Wine Prunes, particularly festive and fruity.

Easy-to-Follow Poached Pears Recipe

With just a few ingredients - sugar, water, vanilla, coffee, and firm-to-ripe pears - and a simple process, you can create an impressive dessert in under an hour. Boil, poach, chill, and enjoy.

First, prepare the poaching syrup in a large pan with a lid, big enough to hold the pears.

Stir the sugar, coffee and water together until the sugar dissolves then boil together on a medium heat. Meanwhile prepare the pears. Ensure they're not too ripe/soft and not too hard either. Aim for somewhere in between: firm-to-medium.

Do You Peel and Core Pears Before Poaching?

You need to peel pears for them to absorb the syrup and show off their glazed look in the plate. Either use a peeler or thinly slice off the skin with a sharp knife.

As we don't eat the core, we remove them - directly at the dessert table.
Anne-Sophie Pic instructs us to core the pears (either use a melon scooper or little spoon to hollow out) but the finished photos still contain the cores. Personally, I prefer keeping them in: it's easier to prepare! If you prefer not to see the core, poach pears whole.

To Soften the Pears

Carefully place them completely in the syrup and poach them gently with lid on for 20 minutes. The pears will soften when cooked in the poaching liquid.

Drain the pears by lifting them out carefully using a slotted spoon into a large bowl. Set aside.

Boil up the coffee syrup for about 10 minutes until concentrated and thickened. Pour half of the syrup over the pears, cool then chill and pour the rest of the syrup in a little jug.

What to Serve with Vanilla Poached Pears and Coffee

As it's such a light dessert, it's perfect for entertaining to add any of the following, which go so well together. Serve with:

• Almond tuile cookies.
• To keep this dessert totally gluten-free, serve with French mendiants (also vegan if dark chocolate).
• Macarons (also gluten free) are the unsung heroes of desserts. Make them ahead, freeze them, and stay zen while you prep. Choose from a variety of flavours in my books, including salted caramel macarons.

Store the leftover coffee syrup in a little jug in the fridge. This adds extra chic for a quick drizzle at the table. It's also great poured over ice cream in the coming days - try it over chestnut vanilla ice cream for something special.

How Long Will They Keep?

This is a handy recipe to make ahead, ideally on the day - but they can keep overnight. So voilà - there you have it. Indulge without the guilt.

This recipe was first published 30 December 2011, but is now completely updated.