Poached Pears with Cinnamon & Cardamom

September 7, 2018 Marcella DiLonardo

I am so excited for autumn! Cue: apples, pears, pumpkins, crisp leaves & ALL the cozy spices. When we think of spiced fall desserts, the first two ingredients that come to mind are apples & pumpkins, but let’s not forget about those freshly picked pears! Pears have a similar texture to apple which means they can often be used interchangeably in a recipe. However, pears bring such a different & distinctive flavour to a dessert.

One of my favourite simple & flavourful treats to whip up over the fall & holiday months are poached pears. They are easy to make, but are such a decadent dessert to serve to guests. I chose to use cardamom & cinnamon as my two main spices in this recipe as they pair beautifully with a dry white wine. My favourite pear poaching wine is a crisp sauvignon blanc, you can make them with any dry white wine you have on hand.

As I always say with my savoury dishes that incorporate wine, only poach the pears with a wine you would drink too! The ingredients in a poached pear are so minimal, that using a quality wine is very important to the success of this recipe.

Lastly, while poached pears can be served on their own, I prefer to serve mine with a generous dollop of fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. I love how the warm pears & syrup pair with the chilled whipped cream. Enjoy!