Dessert Wine Poached Pears with Golden Raisins

Dessert wine poached pears in a tasty honey, vanilla and cardamom syrup served with a Chantilly cream makes for an elegant end to any meal.

This takes around an hour to make, but it can be prepared in advance and reheated later. All you need to do is prepare the cream when you are ready to serve.

Poached Pear with Honey, Cardamom and Vanilla

Desserts don't appear here on my site very often because I don't have a massive sweet tooth.

That doesn't mean that I don't like "pudding", it just means I eat it less often, and as a result, it takes me a long time to develop dessert recipes.

My dessert recipes usually fall into two categories. Childhood memories, like my sticky toffee pudding and bread and butter pudding recipes, or classic dishes like my cherry clafoutis and lemon meringue pie recipes.

They are also all designed for two people, which is so often a challenge when cooking pudding.

These wonderful dessert wine-poached pears definitely fall into the latter, and the flavours are simple but work really well together.

Autumnal pears are the perfect flavour match with sweet dessert wine. Honey and golden raisins add a little more sweetness.

Vanilla and cardamom add delicious, warm and earthy undertones to the whole recipe.

Finally, we round it all out with a beautifully simple chantilly cream.

This recipe has no bells and whistles, but it screams elegance and will have those who eat it think you are a dessert-making maestro, even if you are not!

Frequently Asked Questions

What sort of wine should I use?

This recipe calls for a dessert or pudding wine, they are sweeter and often stronger than table wines.

I use Tokaj, a Hungarian dessert wine that has been around "forever". Famous fans range from Beethoven to Louis XIV and Napoleon to Queen Victoria.

I've seen it for sale in both Aldi and Lidl in the UK. If you cannot get Tokaj, maybe try and hunt down a Sauternes or a Sémillon.

Can I use regular raisins?

Yes, but golden raisins definitely look better in this recipe.

Can I use powdered cardamom?

You could, in theory, however, you would need to be very careful because cardamom can overpower if overused.

I personally would stick with cardamom pods.

Can I make this in advance?

Yes, but it is best not to exceed 4-5 hours because the pears become mushy if left much longer.

If you want to make this in advance, follow my recipe to stage 6, then set aside the poaching syrup and the pears and raisins to cool.

When you are ready to serve, heat the pears over a medium heat and the syrup, then make up the chantilly cream.

Serving Suggestions

I've served my wine-poached pears here with a very simple and delicious Chantilly cream, but there are a few other options that work well with this recipe.

My first choice would be ice cream. You can either buy your own or make something like this homemade vanilla ice cream or lemon ice cream if you want a bit more tartness.

Moving away from the creamy toppings, a bit of a firmer texture would work a treat too.

Ginger would be a lovely combination and some ginger nut biscuits, these homemade ginger biscuits, or if you are bold, these ginger and chilli biscuits would be awesome!

If ginger isn't your thing, some crumbled amaretti biscuits would work wonderfully.

One final option, how about some crumbled hazelnut praline?

Equipment Used

I only name-check brands of equipment if I think that they make a material difference to a recipe. But if you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments section below the recipe.

• Hob/stovetop.
• 20cm or 8" saucepan.
• 15cm or 6" saucepan.
• Chopping board.
• Vegetable peeler.
• Kitchen knife.
• A teaspoon with "sharp" edges or a melon baller to remove the pear cores.
• Mixing bowl.
• Whisk.
• Small fine mesh sieve.
• A combination of weighing scales, a measuring jug, measuring cups and spoons.