Honey Poached Pears
Honey poached pears make a delicious dessert that is sure to impress your guests with its elegant presentation and delicate flavors. This single-serve dish combines the sweetness of ripe pears with a spiced syrup, resulting in a delicious fall dessert. With minimal hands-on prep involved, this easy recipe can be made on the day or ahead of time.
Why you’ll love this poached pear recipe
I love making this recipe simply because it makes fills the kitchen with all the spiced fall flavors. But here are some more reasons why should give my recipe a try:
- Easy, single-serve dessert.
- Meal-prep friendly.
- Refined sugar-free recipe.
Variations
Swap fruit: Use apples or stonefruit such as plums, peaches, and apricots instead of pears for a twist on this warming recipe.
Spice it up: Add other warming spices such as cloves, nutmeg, or star anise.
Ingredients
- Pears – Ripe Beurre Bosc or Peckham pears are perfect for poaching, just make sure they are not too soft.
- Honey – Mild, runny honey works best for this recipe. You can also substitute it with sugar including brown sugar, or maple syrup.
- Spices – Ginger, cinnamon, cardamon, and vanilla add extra flavor, warmth, and depth to this recipe. You can also use my chai spice mix.
- Greek yogurt: Serve with vanilla ice cream, mascarpone cream, or whipped cream instead.
Recipe FAQs
You don’t have to peel pears before poaching. The skin can add color and flavor to the poached pears, and it also provides additional texture.
Pears that are slightly underripe, but not too hard, are generally the best choice for poaching. The ideal ripeness for poaching pears is when they are just starting to soften and have a slight give when pressed.
Related recipes
For more fall dessert ideas, make sure to check out my fall food bucket list and the following recipes:
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Honey Poached Pears
Ingredients
- 4 pears
- 4 cups water filtered
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 cardamon pods
- 1 tbsp ginger peeled and sliced
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Side & Garnish
- 8 tbsp vanilla Greek yogurt
- 4 gingersnap cookies crushed
Instructions
- Peel 4 pearshe pears but leave the stalks intact. Slice a little off the base of each pear so they sit flat on the plate later on.4 pears
- Combine water, honey, cinnamon stick, ginger, and cardamon pods in a heavy-based saucepan. Bring everything to a simmer and add the pears with a ladle.4 cups water, 1/4 cup honey, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 tbsp ginger, 2 cardamon pods
- Poach the pears gently for 40 minutes with a lid on the saucepan. You're after a low and slow simmer. Turn the fruit every 10 minutes while spooning the poaching liquid over the pears. Poach the pears until they're tender all the way through when pierced with a knife or toothpick. The cooking time will depend on the type of pears you're poaching.
- Once fully poached, remove the pears as well as the spices from the saucepan. Boil the liquid for 30 minutes without the lid to reduce it by about half, until thick you're left with a syrup. Add the vanilla extract and stir. Let it cool down slightly.1 tsp vanilla extract
- To serve the gin-poached pears, add 2 tablespoons of the Greek vanilla yogurt to a plate. Place a poached pear on top and add a generous serving of the gin-infused syrup. Garnish with crushed gingersnaps and enjoy!8 tbsp vanilla Greek yogurt, 4 gingersnap cookies
