Poached Pears with Cardamom
This delicious and decadent dessert is very easy to make that looks impressive and tastes delicious! In this recipe I paired pears with cardamom which makes very nice spiced poached pears.
You may think that this dessert is lazy and you might be right, but there is nothing wrong with making it easy for yourself - especially in the kitchen. I really enjoy quick desserts. Complicated desserts are great and fun too but imagine you invited your friends over for dinner and your hands are full with cooking but you also want to make a dessert - something easy that doesn’t require too much of your attention comes in handy. Although I am not sure whether the situation I just described happens often to people - do you ever have people over for dinner? I only ever cooked for my boyfriend’s parents and it was way too stressful so I am not very keen on repeating it anytime soon.
Tips and tricks on how to make easy poached pears
Do pears need to be ripe to poach? No. Mine weren’t that ripe and they tasted great. Ripe pears will take less time to be cooked though so just try to insert a knife into them after 20 minutes of cooking and you’ll see. Don’t use overripe pears, they might not survive that hot bath.
Do I need alcohol to make poached pears? No, you don’t, you can easily make poached pears without wine. You can use it though, poached pears in red wine or poached pears in white wine are great too.
How to poach pears? It couldn’t be easier. You only need to peel pears but leave the stalk on - it is easier to manipulate them with the stalk on. Then you simmer them in water combined with sugar and spices for about 40 minutes and voila, your dessert is done.
How to eat poached pears or what to serve poached pears with? Well they are delicious on their own with that cardamom syrup. You could also make a special breakfast - if you eat porridge, have it with poached pears and cardamom syrup too. I also like it as an afternoon snack with some yogurt and almonds on top. If you’re making brunch on weekend, have pancakes or crepes with these easy poached pears. Another great way how to use them is to put some whipped cream on top of some sweet loaf and top it with pears.
When are pears in season in the UK? From September to January.
For more vegan desserts like this be sure to check out:
Vegan No Bake Cherry Cheesecake Bars
If you make these poached pears, and take photos of them, you can tag me on instagram - @bigbakesmanifesto and use hashtag #bigbakesmanifesto too! I’d love to see you making my recipes. Or follow me on Pinterest, where you can comment and rate my recipes.
Makes 4 pears
Ingredients
4 pears - peeled with the stalk intact
1 l water
120 g caster sugar
8 cardamom pods
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Method
In a medium saucepan (it needs to be able to hold all the pears) combine water, caster sugar, cardamom pods and cinnamon. Bring the mixture to simmer - until the sugar dissolve and then add pears. Let it simmer for about 40-45 minutes - my pears weren’t that ripe so it took a bit longer but if your pears are quite ripe, it will take less time (around 25 mins). Occasionally turn the pears around so they cook evenly. When you think they might be done, try to insert a knife into a pear and if they are tender, take them out.
Continue to simmer the cardamom liquid until it reduces to half of the amount (it will take around 20 mins). Remove cardamom pods and let it cool down.
Serve pears with a drizzle of the cardamom syrup and enjoy!