| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 1 hr 15 min |
| Prep: | 45 min |
| Cook: | 30 min |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 6 ripe Bartlett pears
- 1 (750 ml) bottle full-bodied red wine
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1 (1-inch) wide strip orange peel
- 3 ounces cream cheese
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon brandy
- 1/4 cup heavy cream, whipped
- 1 pint strawberries, tops removed
- 1/4 cup sugar
Instructions
- Pears: Peel the pears and core them whole using a melon baller to scoop out the pulp from the bottom. In a large saucepan, place the wine, sugar, cinnamon sticks and orange peel and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to low and add the pears. Simmer them for about 30 minutes until fork tender. Baste the pears occasionally to make sure they absorb the wine evenly. Remove the pears from the poaching liquid, remove the cinnamon stick and reduce the liquid to 1 cup. Set it aside to cool.
- Filling: Place the cream cheese, sugar and brandy in a food processor and blend. Transfer it to a bowl and fold in the whipped cream. Place it in a pastry bag with a plain tip and fill the pears. Place them in a shallow serving bowl and pour the reduced liquid over them. Chill.
- Sauce: Puree the strawberries with the sugar and chill. To serve the dish, cover the pears with the strawberry puree.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 458 |
| Total Fat | 9 g |
| Saturated Fat | 5 g |
| Carbohydrates | 71 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 7 g |
| Sugar | 56 g |
| Protein | 2 g |
| Cholesterol | 29 mg |
| Sodium | 63 mg |
Reviews
Good, rich, flavor. I thought the cream cheese filling amount needed to be increased – even doubled – but maybe that was because I was craving cheesecake at the time..
This was fantastic. The prep was so worth it!
This is a super easy recipe that will look like you spent a lot of time making it. The dessert is so refreshing and the wine reduction is out of this world! My guests raved about the dessert!
This dessert is so delicious — especially if you are looking for something a little different. Beautiful presentation to bring to a party, or serve to your friends!
This is a very good recipe everyone has raved over the pears. very very good dessert
This was my first attempt at poached pears. I found the recipe easy and fun. I selected pears of various ripeness and found the pears that weren’t as “soft” to hold-up better. I made the pears in the morning so they’d be chilled by the time I needed to serve them. This dessert went great w/paella.
I made this for a supper club dinner (Spanish theme) and it was an outstanding and elegant dessert. Would definitely make it again.
This desert is one of the best I have ever eaten. Not difficult to make and a really beautiful presentation.
made this for my Gourmet club they went wild insisted on the recipe. it definitely has gone into my personnel favourite file. Forever I doubt if I ever will delete this one. It made me look like a star. Thank you DK