Red Wine Pear Compote with Vanilla
- Sweet
- Stovetop
- Oven
Pears simmered in red wine with sugar, cinnamon and vanilla until glossy and tender, served warm in their own light syrup. A cozy, not-too-sweet fruit dessert.
- Total
- 45 min
- Prep 10 · Cook 25 · Rest 10
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Easy
You'll practice: Poaching · Reducing
Instructions
-
Peel the pears, halve them lengthwise and scoop out the cores with a small spoon. Cut each half into 1.5 cm wedges.
~6 min
-
Put the red wine, water, sugar, cinnamon and a pinch of salt in the saucepan. Warm over medium heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes.
~3 min
Dissolving the sugar before the fruit goes in prevents it from settling and scorching on the pan base as the syrup heats.
-
Add the pear wedges and orange zest. Bring to a gentle simmer, then cook uncovered for 15 to 18 minutes, turning the pears once, until they are tender when pierced with a knife and the liquid has reduced to a light syrup.
~18 min
A gentle simmer and an uncovered pan let the liquid reduce and thicken into syrup without the pears collapsing into mush.
Keep the simmer gentle: a hard boil makes the pears break apart before the syrup thickens.
If the syrup is still thin after the pears are tender, lift out the fruit and reduce the liquid for 2 to 3 minutes before returning it.
Poaching Keep the liquid at a bare simmer, small bubbles at the edge, so the pears cook through evenly without breaking apart; a rolling boil toughens and shreds them.
Reducing Cook uncovered and watch the surface: when the liquid coats the spoon and the bubbles grow larger and slower, it has become a light syrup.
-
Stir in the vanilla and take the pan off the heat. Let the compote stand for 10 minutes so the syrup thickens and the flavors settle.
~10 min
Off the heat the syrup cools and thickens slightly, while the vanilla's aroma stays fresh instead of boiling away.
-
Spoon the warm pears and their syrup into bowls, dividing the syrup evenly.
~2 min
