Easy Poached Pears in Red Wine with Vanilla (an Easy Dessert)

These Poached Pears in Red Wine are such an easy, yet elegant dessert, you’ll be wanting to serve them all the time!

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Poached pears in red wine
Poached pears in red wine

An Easy Dessert

When the pears are done poaching, we reduce the wine to a rich luscious syrup to be poured over the pears. Simply fabulous as it is, even better with some sort of cream or ice cream. My favourite is clotted cream. No, wait, mascarpone!

Yep, definitely mascarpone!

It is simplicity itself. The pears take on a sweet, syrupy flavour, with hints of the vanilla used. Soft, but just retaining a bite, a wonderful dessert, especially if you don’t want anything too heavy after a big meal. Split in half for a smaller portion!

Poached pears in red wine
perfectly creamy middle

Can poached pears be made in advance?

Absolutely! And that just makes our poached pears in red wine an even better dessert! The pears can be made up to 2 days in advance, then kept in the fridge in its wine syrup. Just take it out an hour before serving.

These poached pears can be served hot, warm, at room temperature or cold.

What pears are best for poaching?

Technically, any firm pear will do. But the best to me, and the ones that I can get easily all year round, are bosc pears. Bosc pears are not only firm, but are also tall and elegant when stood up, with a long, slim neck.

Having said that, the rounder variety like Williams will be good too.

Best red wine for poached pears

Any good quality red wine that you like drinking will do. Medium bodied wines like Merlot, Shiraz and Tempranillo will be perfect for this recipe, whether fruity or not.

As with any alcohol you cook with, be sure that it is good enough to be drunk. Cheap alcohol will give you cheap food!

Lower Calories Poached Pears?

  • Replace the sugar with stevia, a plant based sugar substitute.
    200g sugar = 1 tsp liquid stevia extract
  • Serve it with half fat cream or yoghurt.

Images by LinsFoodies

And now, let’s get our aprons on!

If you like the recipe, don’t forget to leave me a comment and that all important, 5-star rating! Thank you!

And if you make the recipe, share it on any platform and tag me @azlinbloor, and hashtag it #linsfood

Lin xx

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Poached pears in red wine

Poached Pears in Red Wine with Vanilla (an Easy Dessert)

Poached Pears in Red Wine recipe, such an easy, yet elegant dessert, you’ll be wanting to serve them all the time!
5 from 34 votes
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Course: Desserts
Cuisine: British
Keyword: autumn recipes, christmas, dessert
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4
Calories: 175kcal
Author: Azlin Bloor

Ingredients

  • 1 bottle red wine
  • 2 Tbsp brandy
  • 1 vanilla pod
  • 4 firm pears serve 6 by using 6 pears
  • 200 g white sugar
  • 1 small cinnamon stick

To Serve

  • Any type of cream ice cream or mascarpone cheese

Instructions

  • Pour the wine and brandy into a deep, medium saucepan and add the sugar.
  • Split the vanilla in 2 and scrape the seeds out and add to the wine. Cut each vanilla half into 2 also add it to the wine.
  • Toss in the cinnamon stick.
  • Bring the whole thing to a simmer on low heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
  • While the wine is coming to a simmer, peel the pears and slice the bottom slightly to create a flat base, so they will stand up when served.
  • When the wine is simmering and the sugar has dissolved, add the pears to the wine mix, making sure that they are fully submerged, as much as in possible. If not, let’s be practical. Instead of adding more wine, just turn the pears around 2-3 times while they are poaching. Simmer on low for 20-30 minutes until the pears are tender but not overly soft. If your pears were pretty soft and ripe to begin with, they’ll only need 20 minutes. Use a cocktail stick to test for doneness. It should glide right through the pears.
  • When done, take the pears out and set aside.
  • Fish out the cinnamon stick, or strain, if it’s in many tiny bits.
  • Increase the heat to medium and boil the red wine down to a sticky syrup for 10 minutes. Essentially, we want to reduce it by about half. Don’t overdo it, as it will thicken considerably as it cools, and if reduced too much, will be too thick to pour.
  • Place each pear on a serving plate and pour a little of the syrup on the pears. Serve with some ice cream, cream or mascarpone cheese.

Notes

You can reduce the calorie content by not using up all the syrup (there is a lot), and serving it with a half fat cream or even yoghurt.
You could also substitute the sugar with stevia. 1 tsp stevia is all you need here.
Nutritional information disregards any cream or ice cream that you may be using for serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 175kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 4mg | Potassium: 286mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 45IU | Vitamin C: 8mg | Calcium: 21mg | Iron: 1mg
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13 thoughts on “Easy Poached Pears in Red Wine with Vanilla (an Easy Dessert)”

  1. This was really delicious! I had some leftover red wine (i know i know) that I didn’t want to drink but it was perfect to use for this. Thanks for the recipe!

  2. Helen James

    What a fabulous dessert! I don’t think I’ve ever seen this at restaurants. Saved, thank you.

  3. Vicky Jackson

    Just wanted to tell you that we had this for lunch today (I’m in Aus). It was so easy! I made it before the guests arrived, then reheated the red wine syrup and poured over the pears just before serving. I couldn’t find clotted cream, but we went with mascarpone and yoghurt, and it was delish! Thank you, this is a keeper!

  4. Christina Frank

    This is simply wonderful, thank you! I’ve always wondered about poached pears, they look so elegant. Bookmarked to try!

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