Red Wine Poached Pears With Vanilla Mascarpone Cream
Red Wine Poached Pears With Vanilla Mascarpone Cream
This dessert is easy, flavorful, and gluten-free. The red wine is reduced to a delicious, lovely syrup flavored with vanilla, cinnamon sticks, and bay leaf, and a bit of mascarpone cream on top of each pear adds an extra touch of sweetness to each serving.
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Servings
4
Ingredients
- 5 ounce high-quality 60-percent cocoa bittersweet chocolate chips
- 1 tablespoon port wine or brandy
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoon heavy cream or half-and-half
- 4 firm bosc or comice pears
- one 750-milliliter bottle red wine
- 1 vanilla bean or 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 cup sugar, or to taste
- 8 ounce mascarpone
- 1/4 cup heavy cream or half-and-half
- pinch of cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
Directions
- In a double-boiler or a stainless steel bowl over a simmering water bath, combine the chocolate, port, and butter. Melt, stirring constantly. Add the cream and incorporate into the melted chocolate. Let cool to room temperature and use a squeeze bottle or spoon to drizzle.
- Peel the pears in long strokes to avoid creating a choppy surface on the peeled pear. Cut the pear in half lengthwise. Use a melon baller or small scoop or spoon to scoop out the seeds and core. (You are creating a small "bowl" in the pear half that will later hold the mascarpone cream.)
- In a large saucepan, bring the wine and an equal amount of cold water to a simmer. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and add to the wine and water mixture. Add the cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, and sugar.
- Add the pears to the liquid and simmer until tender but not too soft, about 20-35 minutes. Remove the pears from the liquid and cool.* Remove the cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, and vanilla bean from the wine mixture. Continue to simmer and reduce the liquid by ¾ (the liquid left should be a thickened syrupy consistency). Be sure not to over-reduce or burn the syrup.
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the mascarpone, heavy cream, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar until smooth. Add the butter to the reduced sauce and stir until combined.
- To serve, place a small dollop of the mascarpone cream on a dessert dish. Place a poached pear half on top of the dollop which acts as a "glue" to keep it from sliding on the plate. Then fill the "bowl" of the pear with a generous amount of mascarpone cream. Drizzle the pear with the red wine syrup and chocolate ganache, if using. Serve.