I’ve saved this very recipe for this very day with very good reason…
You know why?
Because…… it’s…… SCARY GOOD!!
Get it?
Scary good?
Halloween?
I’m just kidding – of course you get it.
But I am not kidding about how excellent this dessert is. Let me tell you a little story…
Some years ago, our neighbors and we would get together for food & wine pairing nights. Once a month or so we’d gather at one of our homes and bring along a dish and wine that complemented each other. We would share our bounty along with brilliant insight about our pairings. We came dressed in our imaginary sommelier hats and loved every minute of it.
Now, the night that Dom and I hosted, we thought it would be fun to pair a rich red with a chocolate dessert. So we purchased a chocolate fountain, and all the foody-accoutrement that we wanted for dipping. Do you remember those fountains? Do they even make them anymore?? Anyway – just as our guests were about to arrive we noticed that the beautiful cascade of molten chocolate, that had been flowing all afternoon as we prepared for our party, was no longer cascading but instead was pooling and hardening in the shiny bowls below…which meant our decadent dessert with our nice bottle of red now included marshmallows, strawberries and pound cake… sans chocolate.
However – little did I know – my fabulous friend Jamie – would soon save the day with her Ice Wine and Poached Pears with Caramel Sauce.
Dessert restored.
Our sweet friend, Jamie, moved to Tennessee six-ish years ago and truth is our neighborhood soirées declined following her family’s move. Of course, life’s natural ebb and flow has a lot to do with the amount of socializing we do, but truth is, our little street just wasn’t the same after this beautiful family left. Our kids were pals, my girls babysat her little ones, our husbands were buds, and she was and still is my sister-friend. Regardless of the miles between us, our families will be family forever.
And now I get to share her splendid recipe.
This actually is quite fun to make.
But even more fun to eat.
This particular caramel sauce is a perfect complement to the sweet pear which is a perfect complement to the Ice Wine that just so happened to be in my refrigerator. It was my lucky day…
Okay, so this wouldn’t be a proper Halloween post without a little spook, so I’ve saved the best, most scary pear picture, for the end. This warning comes as an alert…if your kids are in the room, you may want to ask them to leave. It’s pretty graphic.
See what I mean? Scary.
Enjoy the pears and enjoy your evening!
Have a safe and fun Halloween my friends!!
Buon Appetito!
Print
Poached Pears with Hot Caramel Cinnamon Sauce
- Category: Dessert
Ingredients
- 3 cups water
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 4 almost ripe pears, stems on
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp. flour
- 1 cup boiling water
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 2 tsp. vanilla
Instructions
- In a large pan combine water, sugar and lemon.
- Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Peel and core the pears, leaving the stems in tact.
- Add pears to the boiling syrup.
- Reduce heat and simmer gently.
- Cover with a lid and let simmer for 10 minutes.
- Turn pears and let simmer for another 10 minutes until tender.
- In the meantime, mix sugar and flour in a small pot. Stir in the boiling water.
- Cook gently, stirring constantly until slightly thickened.
- Add butter and simmer for another 8 minutes.
- Remove from heat and whisk in the cinnamon and vanilla.
- Pour hot caramel sauce over pears.
{Caramel Sauce adapted from Spicehouse}
Ciao!
THAT sauce!! Takes this lovely poached pear to a whole new level!!
You got that right!! Thanks Zainab!
This looks so gooood!! My husband would love this…he loves pears AND has a sweet tooth. Perfect! Thanks for the great idea 🙂
Thank you so much Christine! Enjoy!
oh my gosh! now this looks like the BEST way ever to eat a pear 😉 delicious!!!
Hahah! Yep! The BEST way!! Thanks Michele!
This looks CRAZY good!!! Pears are one of my favorite fruits, and that sauce… oh that sauce – heaven!
Ahhhh! Yes…that sauce is heaven! Thanks for stopping by Kathleen!
This sounds amazing. The sauce looks luxurious! Perfect dessert for fall. I have not had poached pears before so I will have to give this a try. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much Kelley!! Buon Appetito! 🙂
I’ve never made poached pears before, but I’m dying to try them after this recipe! The caramel sauce is the perfect touch to these too.
You will love them Danielle! Enjoy!!
Oh no, the poor chocolate fountain! That is so sad! I love these poached pears. That cinnamon caramel sauce looks amazing, I could definitely eat that by the spoonful!
I know, it was sad! This sauce is delish! You will love it! Thanks for stopping by Cate!
I absolutely love poached pears…we’ve done them in red wine, and that is an awesome recipe! But I love your caramel cinnamon sauce. That sounds like it’s right up my alley! I also had a chocolate fountain back in the day. I thought I was so cool for having it. Then they started showing up at every birthday party, wedding, company gathering…you name it, there was the ubiquitous chocolate fountain. But now that we’re talking about it, I think I might still have mine packed away downstairs somewhere. I might need to go dig that bad boy out. Haha! 🙂
Oh my gosh! Do you really still have a fountain?! I say yes…bring it out for old-times sake!! And you will love this sauce…and I will love poached pears in red wine, I’m sure! Thanks David!
I love poached pears so much!!! what an elegant and beautiful dessert!! Can’t wait to try Jamie’s recipe!! Pinned!!
Thank you Alice! Jamie will be happy to see that! 🙂
Yum, this is perfect for fall! I love poached pears and that caramel sauce looks irresistible!
It really is perfect for fall…it’s a nice alternative when you run out of ideas for apples. 🙂
Oh my goodness this is beautiful! I love the simplicity, yet sheer elegance of it! This could also be breakfast, right? 😉
Thank you! Ooooh, sure it could be breakfast…what a lovely way to begin the day!
That sauce looks incredible! What a yummy fall dessert.
Thank you Krystle!! It’s a lovely recipe!
Oh my goodness, this DOES look scary good…mmmm…and perfect for fall!
Oh yes…scary and perfect! Thank you so much!!
That caramel sauce is causing me some happiness right now! I’d just eat it with a spoon!
That’s the goal! This sauce is happiness! Thanks Pamela!
These pears are gorgeous, and that caramel sounds divine! 🙂
Thank you Marcie!!
I agree, those pears were scary good! We did have great parties back then, Jamie…I remember the scallop dish you brought to mine. They were great too!
I love how creative everyone was for those parties…Gosh, I have enough material for more than a few posts! I’m sure between the two of us we can remember most of the dishes! 🙂
The cinnamon caramel sauce sounds amazing! I want to eat a jar full with spoon!
That is very easy to do!! So yummy! 🙂
I love pears and this is an awesome idea! Love it! Your pictures are beautiful!
Thank you so much Mira! The pears are perfectly soft and sweet after poaching. Have a great weekend!
Happy Halloween, Annie! These poached pairs look incredible! I’ve never poached my own before, so I’m loving this recipe. And that cinnamon caramel sauce sounds amazing! I think I would just eat it straight with my spoon! 🙂
Oh trust me…this sauce is ‘scary’ good! I’m going to warm it and use it as a topper for vanilla ice cream this weekend! Happy Halloween Gayle!
OMG!! I should’ve known better than to read this so early this morning! The tears are flowing already! (and it’s making me hungry! 😉 ) This brought back such great memories and it makes me miss you all even more! I miss our get togethers but more than anything, I miss all of you and your infectious laughs! I love you girlfriend! Thanks so much for the trip down memory lane!
Ahhh! We miss you guys!! This recipe is awesome my friend…so happy I could reminisce and share your delicious dessert! Love you girlfriend! 🙂