Mulled Wine Poached Pears
- Sweet
- Stovetop
- Oven
Pears gently poached in red wine with orange, cinnamon, cloves and star anise until tender and stained deep ruby. A warm, not spicy Christmas dessert.
- Total
- 76 min
- Prep 10 · Cook 36 · Rest 30
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Easy
You'll practice: Poaching · Reducing
Instructions
-
Peel the pears with a vegetable peeler, leaving the stalks on. Halve them lengthwise and scoop out the cores with a small knife.
~8 min
Choose firm pears that hold their shape; very ripe ones collapse during poaching.
-
Pare two wide strips of zest from the orange with the peeler, avoiding the white pith, then squeeze 60 ml juice.
~2 min
The zest holds the aromatic oils while the pith is bitter, so leaving it behind keeps the syrup fragrant rather than harsh.
-
Put 500 ml red wine, 150 ml water, 80 g sugar, the orange zest and juice, 1 cinnamon piece, 4 cloves and 1 star anise in a medium saucepan. Warm over medium heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes.
~3 min
Dissolving the sugar before the pears go in ensures an even syrup, so the fruit colours and sweetens uniformly rather than in patches.
-
Lower the pear halves into the liquid in a single layer. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover, and cook until a knife slides into the thickest part with no resistance, 20 to 25 minutes, turning them once halfway.
~25 min
A gentle simmer keeps the pears intact, while a hard boil would agitate and break them; the knife test confirms the flesh is tender all through.
Poaching Keep the liquid at a bare simmer with small bubbles at the edge; a rolling boil will bruise and break the pears. Test with a knife for no resistance.
-
Lift the pears out with a slotted spoon and set aside. Boil the poaching liquid uncovered until it reduces to a glossy syrup that coats a spoon, about 8 minutes.
~8 min
Boiling uncovered evaporates water and concentrates the wine, sugar and spices into a syrup thick enough to cling to the pears.
The syrup thickens further as it cools, so stop reducing while it still looks slightly loose.
Reducing Boil uncovered and watch the surface; stop when the syrup coats the back of a spoon, as it thickens further off the heat and can turn sticky.
-
Let the pears and syrup stand for 30 minutes so the colour deepens, then spoon the syrup over the pears to serve.
~30 min
Standing off the heat lets the pears keep absorbing pigment and syrup, so the ruby colour deepens and the flavour penetrates further.
