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Many dessert recipes require baking, but if you're not fond of it, try this poached pear recipe from the Institute of Culinary Education. Combining cranberries, pears, and red wine, it’s a delightful alternative for those tired of traditional cakes and pies.
The fruit is the focal point of this dessert, so it’s crucial to select high-quality pears. “You want to start with ripe pears,” says Roger Sitrin, ICE’s lead recreational chef-instructor, in an interview with Mytour. “Ripe pears poach much better than unripe pears.”
Combine wine, sugar, and spices in a saucepan, bring to a boil, and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Then, add your peeled and cored pears, allowing them to simmer for 25 to 40 minutes, until a knife slides through effortlessly.
Sitrin recommends finding a way to keep the pears submerged in the liquid for even cooking. “Placing a heatproof plate on top of the pears will keep them under the liquid and ensure they are fully submerged,” he explains. “In restaurants, we often use a technique called a cartouche, which is a round cut-out of parchment paper placed over the pears in the pot. [...] I sometimes prefer the cartouche method because it lets me monitor the cooking process,” he adds.
Add the cranberries around 20 minutes into cooking. Once the pears are done, remove them and transfer to a separate bowl. Increase the heat of the cooking liquid and allow it to reduce for several minutes. Serve the pears and cranberries with the reduced sauce. The fruit and sauce are delicious on their own, but to elevate the dish, prepare a whipped ginger mascarpone topping. “The whipped ginger mascarpone is fantastic. It’s not too sweet, and the vanilla flavor complements the pears perfectly,” says Sitrin. The full recipe for the poached pears and whipped mascarpone can be found below.
ICE, with campuses in New York and Los Angeles, offers courses in culinary arts, pastry and baking arts, and hospitality and hotel management. For those interested in expanding their culinary skills, check out their curricula online.
Poached Pears in Red Wine and Cranberries
Serves 4
Poached Pears 4 cups red wine, 1 vanilla bean (seeds and pod), 2 orange peels, 1 orange (juiced), 1 cinnamon stick, 1 star anise, 1 cup sugar, 4 pears (peeled, cored with a melon baller, stem intact), 1 12-ounce bag fresh cranberries
- In a large saucepan, combine red wine, vanilla bean seeds and pod, orange peels and juice, cinnamon stick, star anise, and sugar. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes to dissolve the sugar and infuse the flavors.
- Add the pears to the poaching liquid. If needed, place a small heatproof plate on top of the pears to keep them submerged. Simmer for 25 to 40 minutes, or until the pears are tender when pierced with a knife.
- After the pears have poached for at least 20 minutes, add the cranberries. They should simmer and start to pop. Once the pears are soft, remove the pears and cranberries from the liquid and let them cool.
- Increase the heat to reduce the poaching liquid until it thickens into a syrup consistency.
- Serve the pears with ginger mascarpone.
Whipped Ginger Mascarpone 1 cup heavy cream, 1 cup mascarpone cheese, ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 tablespoons crystallized ginger (finely chopped).
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine heavy cream, mascarpone cheese, and sugar. Whisk until stiff peaks begin to form, then add vanilla extract and continue beating until the mixture holds peaks. Once nearly done, gently fold in the chopped crystallized ginger.
