heavy casserole dish with lid or large saucepan with a lid, large enough to fit 4 pears together in one layer
Ingredients
150g (5oz/ ¾ cup)sugar
1litre/ 4¼ cupswater
1vanilla pod/beancut lengthways
2tbspspowdered coffeeor Decaffeinated/2 small Espresso shots
4large firm-ripe pearsConference, Williams, Comice or Bosc
Instructions
In the large pan, boil the sugar with the water, vanilla and coffee for about 10 minutes. Once boiling, turn down the heat.
Peel the pears. Either keep them whole or cut them in half vertically. Carefully place them completely in the syrup and poach them gently with lid on for 20 minutes.
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.
Notes
Serve with chocolate mendiants to keep vegan. For gluten free accompaniments, serve with coconut macaroons or chocolate macarons (recipes in my cookbook, Mad About Macarons). Otherwise almond tuile cookies.Variation: infuse the bruised seeds from 4 cardamom pods to the coffee poaching liquid, remove, and serve with chocolate, cardamom & ginger macarons.Leftover coffee syrup: Pour the leftover coffee syrup in a jam jar, sealed in the fridge for up to 3 days (or freeze). Over the next few days, just heat it gently and pour over ice cream.
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