Bourbon & Vanilla Poached Pears with a Caramelized Reduction (GF) (V)
Print RecipeServings: 4 servings
Poached pears can be filled with sweetened mascarpone cheese and flavored with orange liqueur for an added element.
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Poaching of Pears
- 4 ea Pears (D'Anjou, Bosc, or Bartlett) Peeled and cored from the bottom, not necessary but poaching time may be longer
- 1 ½ cups Brown Sugar
- ½ cup Bourbon (Knob Creek was used in the recipe)
- ¼ cup Cointreau, Grand Marnier or Triple Sec
- 2 tsp Cinnamon ground
- 1 tsp Cardamom
- 2 tsp Vanilla Paste or 2 Vanilla Beans scraped (2 tsp Vanilla Extract can be substituted)
- 4 cups Water
Caramelized Reduction
- ½ cup Cream
- 2 tbsp Salted Butter
Garnish
- 2 tbsp Toasted Pecans
- 1 scoop Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
Instructions
Poaching the Pears
- In a pot, combine the water, brown sugar, bourbon, orange liqueur, spices and vanilla paste. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.
- Peel the pears and core out the bottom where the stem runs about 2/3 up the stem to remove the seeds. Removing the core and seeds from the bottom is not necessary but gives you a pear that is easy to eat without cutting around the core when eating. The pears will also poach faster than a whole pear. You could pipe in a mascarpone filling to give the pears an additional element once cooled.
- Add the peeled pears to the poaching liquid.
- Simmer for 20-30 minutes. Rotating the pears every 5-10 minutes to ensure they evenly cook. Poaching time will increase if you are poaching whole pears that are not cored from the bottom.
- Check the pears with a knife to determine tenderness. Once knife tender, remove the pears from the pan and reserve in the refrigerator to cool.
Making the Sauce from the Poaching Liquid
- Turn up the heat on the poaching liquid and reduce for approximately 30 minutes. You want to remove much of the water in the poaching liquid.
- Stir throughout the reduction process. This will determine the thickness of the sauce, bring up a spoonful of sauce and pour out into the pot. If the reduction begins to run slower off of the spoon and begin to show signs that it looks like a thin syrup remove from the heat. The reduction will thicken some as it cools.
- While the sauce is on the stove top, add the cream and stir to combine.
- Add the cold butter to the sauce and stir to combine. This sauce will not be as thick as a caramel or butterscotch as the sugar was not caramelized like a caramel would. But it does give a similar flavor profile with the brown sugar, cream and butter with a touch of bourbon and spice. Serve the Pear with some Vanilla Bean Ice Cream with the Caramelized Reduction, garnish with some toasted pecans. Enjoy!