Mulled Wine-Poached Pears
 
Makes 5 poached pears
Ingredients
  • 5 medium Bosc or Anjou pears (1,010 grams)
  • 1 cup (240 grams) pear juice*
  • ½ cup (110 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar
  • ½ cup (170 grams) clover honey
  • ½ cup (120 grams) brandy
  • 1 (750-ml) bottle full-bodied red wine, such as Merlot
  • 7 (1-inch-wide) strips orange zest (28 grams)
  • ½ cup (120 grams) strained fresh orange juice
  • 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 5 whole allspice
  • 3 whole star anise
  • 4 whole cloves
Instructions
  1. Peel pears, leaving stems intact. Using a melon baller, core pears from bottom.
  2. In a large saucepan, heat pear juice, brown sugar, honey, and brandy over medium-high heat until sugar is dissolved and mixture starts to boil. Add wine, orange zest and juice, vanilla bean and reserved seeds, cinnamon sticks, allspice, star anise, and cloves; return to a boil. Add pears; reduce heat to medium-low.
  3. Shape a small sheet of foil into a circle. Place on top of pears to keep them fully submerged in poaching liquid. Simmer until pears are fork-tender, 30 to 35 minutes.
  4. Transfer pears to a bowl. Pour poaching liquid over pears, and let cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use, up to 1 week.
Notes
*We used R.W. Knudsen Organic Pear Juice.

Slightly underripe pears are best for poaching. The longer the pears soak in the poaching liquid, the more intense the flavor will be. We recommend refrigerating them in the poaching liquid overnight.
Recipe by Bake from Scratch at https://bakefromscratch.com/spiced-mulled-wine-pear-cake/