I was leaving our home in Cumbria to travel to Crete where I was hosting a culinary week for Saga Holidays and the pears on our espalier tree were not quite ripe to pick and eat but were perfect to poach in syrup and put in the freezer to enjoy during the winter months.
Ingredients
- 7 firm pears
- 1.3 litres water
- 525 g caster sugar
- Juice of half a lemon
- 2 strips lemon peel
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1½ tsp vanilla paste, or 1 vanilla pod
- 5 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
Method
Cut the pears in half, remove the core and peel.
Put the water, sugar, lemon peel, lemon juice, cinnamon and vanilla into a saucepan large enough to hold the pears fairly snugly.
Bring to a gentle simmer and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
Add the pears. Place a circle of baking paper directly on the surface to help keep them submerged.
Simmer very gently for about 20 to 30 minutes. Turn them occasionally if they are not completely covered. They are ready when a small knife slides in easily but the pears still hold their shape.
Remove from the heat and leave the pears to cool in the syrup. This is important because they continue absorbing flavour as they cool. Transfer the pears and enough syrup to cover them into a container.
They will keep in the fridge for about 5 to 7 days.
If you want to freeze them, cool completely first, then freeze the pears submerged in their syrup. They should keep well for around 3 months.
For serving, I would reduce some of the poaching syrup separately until slightly glossy and spoon it over the pears with Greek yogurt, mascarpone or vanilla ice cream.