Poached Pears w/ Spiced Caramel Sauce

Ingredients: 

Poached Pears - Anjou pears, orange juice, orange zest, lemon juice, lemon zest, granulated sugar, water, splash of Rum

Spiced Caramel Sauce - granulated sugar, brown sugar, heavy cream, clove, fennel, black peppercorns, cinnamon sticks

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This was my first foray into poached pear territory and thought I'd try this out for Thanksgiving dessert. I always loved how classic and elegant fruit can look when you poach it and thought that pears would be perfect for Fall. I began by peeling the Anjou pears one-by-one (while the turkey was in the oven), which took up most of the prep time. The best way to do this is with a small vegetable peeler - the hand-held one, not the stand-up kind. 

The poaching liquid was essentially a diluted citrus mixture of oranges and lemons and sugar. I omitted about 1 cup of sugar from the recipe as I'm not a stickler for super-sweet desserts and added about a splash of Rum (ok, about 1 cup) to the poach while it was simmering. The recipe called for 25 mins of poaching time, but it really could've gone for much longer; at least 45 mins to 1 hour. Once finished, you need to cool it in the poaching liquid, so I put the lid on and removed it from the stove and left it alone for the rest of the day.

Meanwhile, for the Spiced Caramel Sauce, this too was my first venture into caramel territory. I was always intimidated by cooking sugar - so important to keep your eye on it. You start by heating up sugar directly into a saucepan. I blinked and before I knew it, it was almost bubbling over and browned. At this point, remove it from the heat and add the spices, stirring constantly! Strain it through a sieve and set aside in a bowl to cool.

The best part is the presentation! I removed the poached pears from the liquid and placed them on a platter on top some coffee/vanilla bean mascarpone cream. Pouring the spiced caramel sauce over the pears at the table will definitely get you some oohs and aahs!

It was a great recipe that I'll definitely make again, tweaking a few things here and there. You can find it off Bon Appetit magazine's website at epicurious.com here.