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Let me start by confessing that this pear has not been shot in the proper season for poached pears… I shot it in the middle of summer as an experiment in lighting techniques.. I was very disappointed by the looks of my pear once poached and I will be doing this again with a dark pear! But… the reason I decided to share the recipe anyway is because it is absolutely delicious! Used with the right pear this – to me – is a real winner for a family dinner party or maybe even for Christmas! If you make it look a little nicer this would be a delicious and fairly light dessert for a heavy dinner party. I had never poached a pear before and because I was doing this for other purposes I picked a fairly simple recipe that did not require a lot of time standing over the stove, but boy… I did not expect it to taste so good!
Honey poached pears with star anise
Ingredients
- 1 cup honey
- 5 star anise whole ones
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice fresh
- 1 pinch fine sea salt
- 6 pieces pears firm pears, peeled, quartered and cored
- 1/2 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
Instructions
- Combine 2 1/2 cups water, honey, star anise, lemon juice, and sea salt in large saucepan. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add pears; reduce heat and simmer until tender, turning occasionally, 4 to 6 minutes, depending on ripeness. Using slotted spoon, transfer pears to medium bowl. Boil liquid and star anise until reduced to 1 cup syrup, about 22 minutes. Pour syrup with star anise over pears. Cover and chill until cold, about 2 hours.
- DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.
- Remove star anise from syrup. Divide pears and syrup among 6 bowls. Top each with dollop of crème fraîche and serve.
Disclaimer:
The nutritional values above are calculated per portion. The details are based on standard nutritional tables and do not constitute a professional nutritional advice.
I do not know when you took the pear photo or posted this recipe but I hope that you come back to the photo and take a good look at it. It is lovely, truly lovely. Might not be what you envisioned, but beautiful nonetheless.
Ah thanks so much! That’s sweet of you to say. It’s an oldie from 2011 😉