AND THEN IT ALL WENT PEAR-SHAPED.
Sweetly spiced poached pears, and the best thing to do with them: serve with cake.
Think poached pears, and immediately I think of soft, yielding flesh, syrupy juices, a blossomy fragrance in the air, and “where did I put my melon-baller?”
I don’t believe I have ever balled a melon, so to speak, but a melon baller is compulsory when poaching pears. How else could you get that perfectly rounded little hollow in which the juices pool and puddle? It’s so entrancing, I would do it even if I didn’t have to remove the seeds.
Luckily, the best pears for poaching are also the easiest to find. The tan-coloured beurre bosc shown here has a lovely grainy texture and holds it shape well, and the finer-textured, green-skinned Packham is consistently reliable. Poach them when just ripe, as over-ripe pears will be too soft.
Rather than drop the peeled pears into acidulated water - always best avoided unless you want everything to taste of lemon juice - get your poaching liquid ready at a simmer, then drop them straight in as you peel them, and they won’t have time to oxidise and go brown.
Poach them whole, or halve or quarter them first; all good.
Or don’t poach them at all, but bake them in the oven. Prep 3 or 4 pears, arrange in a tray, pour dessert wine over the top, scatter with 100g sugar or drizzle with maple syrup or honey, and bake at 180C for 30 minutes or until tender.
Poached pears are magnificent with breakfast cereals and porridge, or with creamy blue cheese, triple crème, or comté and gruyere, and walnut bread. They’re fun with roast pork, or tossed into the pan with some pork sausages as they cook through.
But they are at their best, served with cake. Especially a deep, rich, blonde, fragrant cake made of olive oil and dessert wine (recipe below).
Now, check out those lovely little hollows… #melon-baller
SPICED POACHED PEARS
4 beurre bosc pears
500 ml water
100 g sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 vanilla pod, split
1 star anise
4 cardamom pods
2 bay leaves
Find a saucepan in which the pears will fit snugly.
Combine water, sugar and spices in the pot and bring to the boil.
Peel the pears from top to bottom and slip into the water, adding more to just cover.
Cover the pears with a circle of baking paper.
Simmer at a gentle bubble for 15 to 20 minutes, until just tender when pierced with the tip of a knife.
Leave to cool in the poaching liquid – they will continue to cook and soften.
Remove from the liquid when cool, cut in half lengthwise and remove core with a melon baller.
Boil the syrup until reduced by half, then cool and pour over the pears.
Store in the fridge and enjoy. Serves 4
Tip: if you slash the baking paper ‘lid’ a few times with the tip of a knife, you can sit the pears upright in the pan with their stalks poking through the gashes, to help keep them upright.
SAUTERNES CAKE WITH PEARS
This is a gorgeous, celebratory, desserty sort of cake, inspired by the Chez Panisse original. Using olive oil instead of butter gives it a pillowy richness and softness.
The pears aren’t baked into the batter as it may seem, but simply sliced and splayed on top, to serve. A big dollop of crème fraiche, yoghurt, sour cream or Chantilly cream (made with icing sugar) wouldn’t go astray.
(Note to self: next time, splay out the pears more, so that they cover more surface area of the cake, and the pear is more evenly distributed when you cut into wedges.)
1 poached pear, halved and cored
150 g caster sugar
3 eggs
150 ml olive oil
150 ml dessert wine
1 tbsp grated orange zest
180 g plain flour, sifted
2 scant tsp baking powder
2 tbsp flaked almonds
Icing sugar for dusting
Heat the oven to 180C conventional. Use a teaspoon of the olive oil to grease a 20 cm diameter, deep-sided (6 or 7cm) cake tin.
Beat the eggs and sugar with an electric mixer until pale, about 5 mins.
Add dessert wine, olive oil and orange zest, mixing well.
Add the sifted flour and baking powder, and beat until just combined.
Pour the batter into the tin and bake for 35 minutes without opening the door and harassing it. Now, start testing - it might need up to 45 minutes until an inserted skewer comes out clean.
Leave in the tin for 15 minutes before removing. A little shrinkage is fine.
Slice the pears crosswise, keeping things pear-shaped, then transfer them to the top of the cake. Splay them out a bit to spread the sliced pears across the surface.
Scorch the flaked almonds in a hot dry pan, scatter on the cake around the pears, and dust with icing sugar to serve.
Tip: You could go all-in and poach the pears in the remaining dessert wine, but I’ve decided they don’t really need the wine to bring out their best. You do. Have the wine with the cake.
Thanks for reading! And special thanks to my right-hand man, Terry Durack, for decreeing there is nothing wrong with having sauternes-poached pears on bircher muesli for breakfast. Way to go.
I would also like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands and waters upon which I work, live, cook and play; the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. I fully support the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice to be enshrined in Australia’s Constitution. It’s about time, folks.
Another great recipe Jill. I'd enjoy these pears with an aged Marsanne. These wines take on a lovely golden hue and baked apple aromas.
Delicious foodie ideas written delightfully. Thanks again Jill … and thanks to Terry for the brekky tips! 🤗