Hello my loves,

It's pear season, and this week I've been besotted with them. Their flavour is just so elegant. Sweet, earthy and slightly perfumed, pears shine throughout autumn and winter. They have infinite applications in the sweet sector, and lend themselves beautifully to savoury executions too, but today I'm sharing my recipe for one of the quintessential ways to prepare them: the poach.

Now, I'm well aware that the poached pear was wayyyyy overdone in the nineties. As a person who spent several years as a waitress in the latter part of that decade, I've seen it all. Red wine poached, white wine poached, drizzled with chocolate sauce, served in anglaise. The thing I never understood was the peeling of them. The poor wobbly things, precariously balanced whole on oversized plates, always looked so nude and exposed to me. The instability of their uneven bottoms was a waitresses' nightmare too.

When I poach pears, I leave the skin on, allowing the flavour to permeate the flesh by cutting them in half before I simmer them. They're infinitely easier to arrange on the plate this way, and I think the subtle tones of their faintly be-speckled skin look absolutely beautiful. I poach my pears in a heady mix of sherry, sugar and spices, and believe me when I tell you that this recipe is worth making just for the way the house smells as it's simmering. When I made these on Wednesday I spent a good portion of their simmering time just laying on the couch, breathing in the gorgeous aromas that were wafting from their pot.

These pears are delectable served hot, sauced in a little of their reduced poaching liquid, with some cream, poured or whipped. A dollop of vanilla-spiked marscapone would also do them a lot of justice, and they are sensational with a silky vanilla custard. They're also divine served cold, sliced as an accompaniment to a cheeseboard or simply tumbled over your morning porridge or granola. They last incredibly well in the fridge, and in fact their flavour improves the longer they're left soaking in their spicy bathe, so it's worth making these a few days ahead of when you plan to serve them, if you have the foresight to do so. You could also jar them up if you had the inclination - they would make absolutely gorgeous gifts.

So my loves, here it is, my recipe for sherry and spice-poached pears. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do 💛.

Sherry and spice-poached pears

Serves 6

Ingredients
3 pears
2 cups water
2 cups sherry
320g demerara sugar
2 cinnamon quills, broken into a few large pieces
3 bay leaves
10 pods cardamom, bruised
7 whole cloves
1 star anise
½ teaspoon whole peppercorns
1 teaspoon vanilla

Halve the pears and remove their cores. Mix everything except the pears in a large saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the pears, bring back to the boil, and simmer, covered, for 40-50 minutes or until the pears are tender, but not mushy, and still hold their shape. Store the pears in their poaching liquor in the fridge until you’re ready to serve. To serve, reheat the pears by boiling them in some of their poaching liquor, then remove them and continue to boil the liquor until it’s reduced a little. Taste it, and once it’s flavoursome enough for your liking, it’s ready to serve. Pour it over your waiting, warm pears and serve with generous lashings of cream, vanilla-spiked mascarpone, or silky vanilla custard.

🍐🍐🍐🍐🍐🍐🍐🍐🍐

And so my loves, we enter another weekend. I'm whipping up deliciousness at a gorgeous private event tonight, and to be honest, I haven't really thought much about the rest of it! I do have a box of poached pears in my fridge, so nothing can really go wrong, and I'm looking forward to seeing what other delights the universe sends my way as I trip through my Saturday and Sunday. Until next week my loves 💛.
Love, Rachel xxx