Cardamom-Poached Pears
6
Points®
Total time: 55 min • Prep: 10 min • Cook: 45 min • Serves: 6 • Difficulty: Easy
When pears are poached, the flavour from whatever liquid you use infuses the fruit. Here we use white wine, cardamom, and a strip of orange zest. The orange blossom water is optional but it adds a lovely aroma and floral taste. When throwing a party, it's always great to have at least one dish done the day before to give you time to focus on everything else. This is a great make-ahead recipe, perfect for entertaining. Letting the pears marinate overnight infuses them with the flavourful cooking liquid.
Ingredients
White wine
1 cup(s), dry
Sugar
½ cup(s)
Orange zest
1 strip(s), 3 inches long
Cardamom pods
5 item(s), lightly crushed
Kosher salt
⅛ tsp(s)
Bosc pear
4 medium
Orange blossom water
2 tsp(s), optional
Instructions
1
In Dutch oven, combine wine, sugar, orange zest, cardamom, salt, and 31⁄2 cups water. Bring to simmer over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar.
2
Meanwhile, peel pears, leaving stems intact. Using melon baller or paring knife and spoon, core each pear from bottom end. Add pears to simmering liquid. (Pears should be mostly submerged.) Cover, reduce heat, and simmer until pears are tender when pierced with knife, about 20 minutes. Remove pears from cooking liquid and place in zip-top plastic bag.
3
Increase heat to high. Boil cooking liquid until reduced to about 1 cup of syrup, 25 to 30 minutes. Using fine-mesh strainer, strain syrup into small bowl. Discard orange zest and cardamom. Stir orange blossom water (if using) into syrup. Pour syrup over pears in bag and let cool to room temperature. Remove excess air from bag. Seal bag and refrigerate for 8 hours or up to 24 hours. Serve pears cold or at room temperature with syrup spooned over top.
4
Serving size: 1 pear and about 3 tbsp syrup
People Also Like
Join the #1 doctor-recommended weight-loss program*
*Based on a 2023 survey by Cerner Enviza of 500 doctors who recommend weight-loss programs to patients.