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Pears Poached in Red Wine and Cassis

5.0(90)

A classic French dessert with liqueur that adds a deep berry essence. Wine-poached pears make fora classic French dessert. I like to add a little crème de cassis liqueur to the wine, along with honey, vanilla and cinnamon. The cassis, made from black currants,adds a deep berry essence to the syrupy wine. You can serve these pears warm or chilled. The poached pears will keep well for a couple of days in the refrigerator. The pears will continue to soften.

by Martha Rose Shulman

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Breakfast, Brunch, Dinner, Lunch, Dessert

Servings

(4–6)

Total time

20 min

Calories / serving

343 kcal

Ingredients (9)

serves

3 cups not-too-robust red wine, such as a Beaujolais or a Côtes du Luberon
1/3 cup mild honey, such as cloverhoney
1/4 cup crème de cassis liqueurliqueur
1 vanilla bean, cut in half lengthwisevanilla
1 cinnamon stickcinnamon
1/2 cup dark or golden raisins
Juice of 1/2 lemonlemon
4 firm but ripe pearspear
1/4 cup lightly toasted slivered almondsslivered-almonds

Instructions (3 steps)

01Combine wine, honey, and crème de cassis in a medium saucepan. Using the tip of a paring knife, scrape seeds from vanilla bean halves into wine and add pods.Add cinnamon stick and raisins and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 5 minutes.
02Meanwhile, fill a bowl with water and add lemon juice. Peel, quarter and core pears and drop into the acidulated water. (This prevents the pears from discoloring.)
03Drain pears and add to simmering wine. Bring back to a simmer, cover and simmer 10 to 15 minutes more, until pears areslightly translucent. Turn off heat and remove cinnamon stick. Add almonds. Serve warm or chilled.

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Rich recipe — supports nutrition-aware planning.