Pears Poached in Red Wine and Cassis

Name: Pears Poached in Red Wine and Cassis
Total time: 20 min
Yield: Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients: 3 cups not-too-robust red wine, such as a Beaujolais or a Côtes du Luberon; 1/3 cup mild honey, such as clover; 1/4 cup crème de cassis liqueur; 1 vanilla bean, cut in half lengthwise; 1 cinnamon stick; 1/2 cup dark or golden raisins; Juice of 1/2 lemon; 4 firm but ripe pears; 1/4 cup lightly toasted slivered almonds

By Martha Rose Shulman

Total Time: 20 minutes
Rating: 5(77)
Comments: Read comments

A classic French dessert with liqueur that adds a deep berry essence.

Wine-poached pears make fora classic French dessert. I like to add a little crème de cassis liqueur to the wine, along with honey, vanilla and cinnamon. The cassis, made from black currants,adds a deep berry essence to the syrupy wine. You can serve these pears warm or chilled. The poached pears will keep well for a couple of days in the refrigerator. The pears will continue to soften.

Featured in: Turning Up the Heat on Fruit

or to save this recipe.
Subscriber benefit: give recipes to anyone
As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.
Subscribe
Share
Print Options
Include recipe photo

Ingredients

Yield:Serves 4 to 6

3cups not-too-robust red wine, such as a Beaujolais or a Côtes du Luberon
⅓cup mild honey, such as clover
¼cup crème de cassis liqueur
1vanilla bean, cut in half lengthwise
1cinnamon stick
½cup dark or golden raisins
Juice of ½ lemon
4firm but ripe pears
¼cup lightly toasted slivered almonds

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Opt out or contact us anytime. See our Privacy Policy.

Preparation

Step 1
Combine wine, honey, and crème de cassis in a medium saucepan. Using the tip of a paring knife, scrape seeds from vanilla bean halves into wine and add pods.Add cinnamon stick and raisins and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 5 minutes.
Step 2
Meanwhile, fill a bowl with water and add lemon juice. Peel, quarter and core pears and drop into the acidulated water. (This prevents the pears from discoloring.)
Step 3
Drain pears and add to simmering wine. Bring back to a simmer, cover and simmer 10 to 15 minutes more, until pears areslightly translucent. Turn off heat and remove cinnamon stick. Add almonds. Serve warm or chilled.

Ratings

5 out of 5

77 user ratings

Have you cooked this?

Private Notes

Leave a Private Comment on this recipe and see it here.

Comments

Georg'ann6 years ago

I was out of creme de cassis liqueur, and so used what I had, which was Chambord. Before I served them, I took the pears and raisins out of the poaching liquid, and then cooked the liquid down for about 15 minutes. It became concentrated and slightly syrupy. I then served the syrup on the side. It was delicious!

rachel2 years ago

Very good and easy to make. Threw in 4 cloves and used 1 tsp vanilla extract instead of vanilla bean. Didn’t have enough wine so halved the amounts for sauce and poached the same number of pears but in 2 batches. There was still plenty of sauce to serve over vanilla ice cream.

WillKS5 days ago

Chose this recipe because I had 2 pears that refused to ripen. But cut into eighths, with a long simmer they became tender while retaining some crunch and their pear flavor was still apparent. This braising combination of wine, honey, cinnamon stick, vanilla and Creme de Cassis is super. Vanilla beans costing a fortune, I used V-bean paste with excellent results. Next time will reduce poaching liquid before serving. Mixed Mascarpone, cream & vanilla powder to serve aside almonds and mint sprigs.

rachel2 years ago

belato72 years ago

My daughter and I made this for Thanksgiving. Very easy. Used all the ingredients as listed but we doubled the pears because we felt there was too much wine sauce. Elegant, easy and delicious!

Private comments are only visible to you.