Red Wine Poached Pears with Mascarpone Centres

By cookism

Elegant and sophisticated, yet easy enough for the average home cook. These are what we are looking for in a dessert recipe, and the Red Wine Poached Pears with Mascarpone Centres tick all the right boxes. Visually stunning and decadently enjoyable, this iconic dessert that finds its way onto the covers of many dessert cookbooks is a definite crowd-pleaser. And with this original recipe, you can relish its resplendent scarlet bliss within the comfort of your own home.

Ingredients

• For red wine poached pears:
• 4 to 6 Firm Bosc Pears
• 3 Cups of Red Wine (we used Merlot)
• 1 Cup of Sugar
• 2 Cinnamon Sticks
• 2 Cloves
• 1 Vanilla Pod
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 1 Star Anise
• 8 Black Peppercorns
• Peel of 1 Lemon + 1 tbsp of Lemon Juice
• For mascarpone filling:
• 100 g of Mascarpone
• 1 tbsp of Honey
• 2 to 3 drops of Vanilla Bean Paste
• Pinch of Cinnamon (to taste)

Details

Servings 4
Adapted from cookism.tumblr.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. Using a paring knife, carefully slice out the lemon peel, taking as little white pith as possible.
2. Split the vanilla pod into half. Extract the beans by running your knife along the inside of the pod. Combine red wine, sugar, cinnamon sticks, cloves, bay leaf, star anise, black peppercorns, lemon peel, vanilla pod and scrapings in a large saucepan. Bring it to a boil.
3. In the meantime, peel and core the pears without removing the stem. Place them in a bowl of cold water with a few slices of lemon to prevent browning. When the red wine mixture is boiling, place the pears in and reduce the heat to a simmer. Poach pears for 25 to 30 minutes till tender.
4. Transfer the pears into a large cooking dish, sieve and allow the red wine mixture to cool before pouring it in. Cover with a plastic wrap and soak the pears overnight while occasionally turning the sides to ensure even colour as well as flavour absorption.
5. Transfer pears onto a large plate and allow red wine mixture to reduce over medium heat to a syrup consistency. This will take about 40 to 45 minutes, syrup will be ready when it coats the back of a wooden spoon. To make mascarpone filling, combine mascarpone, honey, ground cinnamon, vanilla bean paste and mix well. Scoop mascarpone mixture into a piping bag and fill the pear centres, then carefully place them on a serving plate. If mascarpone mixture is too runny, firm it up in a freezer for a few minutes. Pour warm syrup over poached pears and serve! Enjoy!