Wow, I made this last night and it was fabulous — so light and tasty. What a refreshing dessert on a hot summer’s night. I guarantee your company will love this dish.
INGREDIENTS
→ 4 Bosc pears
→ 1 cup sugar
→ 1 bottle sparkling wine
→ 1 cinnamon stick
→ 4 star anises
→ 6 whole peppercorns
→ Zest ½ an orange and lemon
→ 2 tablespoons clover honey
→ ½ teaspoon powdered vanilla
→ 2 cups water
DIRECTIONS
→ 1. Peel the pears, keeping the stems intact. Squeeze a little lemon juice over the top to keep them from browning. Gently slice a small portion of the bottom off of the base of each pear so they can stand up.
→ 2. Place the sugar, sparkling wine, water, cinnamon, star anises, peppercorns, honey, vanilla and zest in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Bring the mixture to a boil.
→ 3. Once the liquid is boiling, reduce the heat and add the pears, standing up or sideways. Cook for about 20 minutes or until tender.
→ 4. Remove the pears and continue to reduce the liquid in the pan until it is a syrupy consistency. This can take about 45 minutes.
→ 5. When the pears are cooled, slice them in half (preserving the stems) and scoop out seeds.
→ 6. Drizzle syrup over the pears. Serve with your favorite sorbet. Serves 4.