Orange and Cinnamon Stewed Pears - sweet pears poached in citrus and subtle spices until they are soft enough to cut with a spoon!
Today I am bringing you a recipe that's another "oldie but a goodie" - my take on the classic Stewed Pears. These pears make an easy weeknight dessert, but are also easy to fancy up for a dinner party. Plus the option of serving warm or cold as well as making ahead - so many possibilities!
I have flavoured these poached pears with citrus plus some subtle spices - all easily accessible from your local supermarket or home pantry.
Table of Contents
Ingredients you will need for this recipe
- pears
- water
- oranges
- honey
- granulated white sugar
- cloves
- cinnamon
- fresh ginger
- macadamia nuts
- pine nuts
- slivered almonds
- Lotus biscoff biscuits (optional)
- mascarpone (to serve)
*Please see the recipe card below for exact quantities and detailed instructions
How to cook stewed pears
- Add water, orange juice, orange peel, sugar, honey and spices to a saucepan. Bring to a simmer.
- Meanwhile, peel and quarter the pears, and remove the cores.
- Add quartered pears to the syrup mixture in the saucepan, topping up with extra water if needed.
- Top with a circle of baking paper (a cartouche - see section below), then simmer until pears are soft.
- When soft, remove stewed pears with a slotted spoon and continue to simmer syrup to desired consistency.
- Meanwhile, place nuts into a small frypan and fry until lightly toasted.
- Roughly chop nuts.
- Then roughly chop Lotus biscuits and combine with nuts.
How to make a cartouche
- Take a square of baking paper big enough to cover the pot and fold it into quarters, then again into eighths.
- Place this onto the base of the upturned lid of the pot, with the point in the centre.
- Trim the widest end of the baking paper to fit inside the edge of the pot lid. Also, snip off a small section of the pointed end.
- Fold out baking paper - you should have a round circle of paper with a hole in the middle (to stop it bubbling off with the steam) to place on top of your dish as it cooks.
PS: If you forget to cut a hole in the middle like I did in the process shots further back up the page - just rest a teaspoon on top of the baking paper, this will stop it from bubbling up too much!!!!
My top tips for making this recipe
- Why make a cartouche? This is to help keep the pears at the top moist as they cook.
- The recipe calls for 6 cloves, so I also chop the ginger into 6 pieces to go into the syrup - this way I know when I have got them all!
- I use a vegetable peeler to cut the strips of orange rind. Try not to get any of the white pith as it's bitter tasting.
- How long you simmer the pears will depend on the ripeness of your pears, and how tender you would like them. I simmered mine for 15 minutes and they were tender enough to cut with a spoon - no knife needed!
- Simmering the remaining syrup will thicken it, but will also reduce the amount. Keep in mind it will thicken a little on cooling.
More easy dessert recipes you may like
Mascarpone and Nutella Creme - a dangerously easy make ahead dessert with only 5 ingredients!
Banoffee Cups with my Secret Ingredient - cute little individual serves of banoffee pie with a few short cuts and my secret special ingredient!
📖 Recipe
Orange and Cinnamon Stewed Pears
Ingredients
Stewed Pears
- 4 pears I used Beurre Bosc (brown) pears
- 1½ cups water plus more as needed
- 2 large oranges 4 wide strips of zest removed then juiced (approx ½ cup of juice)
- 1 tablespoon honey
- ¼ cup granulated white sugar (60g)
- 2½ cm piece of fresh ginger (1") peeled and roughly chopped into 6 chunks
- 6 cloves
- pinch of cinnamon a scant ⅛ tsp
- mascarpone to serve
Nut Crumble
- 1 tablespoon roughly chopped macadamia nuts
- 1 tablespoon pine nuts
- 1 tablespoon slivered almonds
- 4 Lotus biscoff biscuits (optional)
Instructions
- Add water (1½ cups), orange juice (2 oranges - approx ½ cup), orange peel (4 strips), white sugar (¼ cup/60g), honey (1 tbsp), ginger (2½ cm/1" piece cut into 6), cloves (6) and cinnamon (a pinch - a scant ⅛ tsp) to a saucepan. Bring to a simmer.
- Meanwhile, peel and quarter the pears, and remove the cores.
- Add quartered pears to the syrup mixture in the saucepan, topping up with extra water if needed until the pears as just barely covered.
- Top with a circle of baking paper (a cartouche - see section in recipe post) then simmer for 15 minutes or until pears are soft.
- When soft, remove stewed pears with a slotted spoon and set aside. Continue to simmer syrup to desired consistency. Remove orange peel, ginger and cloves to serve.
- Serve pears topped with syrup, a dollop of mascarpone and nut crumble sprinkled on top.
Nut Crumble
- Place roughly chopped macadamia nuts (1 tbsp), pine nuts (1 tbsp) and slivered almonds (1 tbsp) into a small frypan over medium low heat and fry until lightly toasted, then roughly chop.
- Roughly chop Lotus biscuits (4) if using and combine with nuts.
Notes
- Why make a cartouche? This is to help keep the pears at the top moist as they cook.
- The recipe calls for 6 cloves, so I also chop the ginger into 6 pieces to go into the syrup - this way I know when I have got them all!
- I use a vegetable peeler to cut the strips of orange rind. Try not to get any of the white pith as it's bitter tasting.
- How long you simmer the pears will depend on the ripeness of your pears, and how tender you would like them. I simmered mine for 15 minutes and they were tender enough to cut with a spoon - no knife needed!
- Simmering the remaining syrup will thicken it, but will also reduce the amount. Keep in mind it will thicken a little on cooling.
Leave a Reply