Written By Catherine Parrott

If a poached pear is involved in any dessert or cake, then I’m also getting involved WITH MY MOUTH AND MY BELLY.

Rich with heady and warm caramel notes which pair (pear?) perfectly with the sweetness from the  pear, this recipe is definitely one you should get involved in too . This is recipe is simply gorgeous, all credit to the humble poached pear.

RECIPE:

POACHED PEARS

  • 4 CONFERENCE PEARS

  • 200g CASTER SUGAR (I’ve poached in other sugars before but caster sugar is much more versatile and in this recipe I really want the vanilla to sing)

  • 400ml WATER

  • 1 VANILLA POD

  • 1 CINNAMON STICK

GINGER CARAMEL CREAM

  • 100g DARK BORWN SUGAR (Yep, we’re making a ‘fake’ caramel here. Look I have an entire section on sugar coming up. I’m sure we’ll cover it then)

  • 600ml DOUBLE CREAM

  • 1 Tsp GROUND GINGER (I don’t like fresh ginger for baking, there I said it. The heat is too raw, too aggressive. Ground ginger is much warmer, more conforting. A no-brainer)

  • 50g UNSALTED BUTTER

BROWN BUTTER SPONGE

  • 120g UNSALTED BUTTER

  • 230g PLAIN FLOUR

  • 180g LIGHT BROWN SUGAR

  • 4g BAKING POWDER

  • 1 Tsp GROUND GINGER

  • 3 MEDIUM WHOLE EGGS

  • 105g CREME FRAICHE (you can swap this in for sour cream or yoghurt if that’s what you have in. They all play the role in this sponge recipe interchangeably)

BEFORE YOU START…

  • Preheat your oven to 160c (Fan Oven- 180c for other, less powerful ovens)

  • Liberally grease your bundt tin/20cm square baking tin

METHODS:

FOR THE POACHED PEARS…

Peel and core your pears. Mix the sugar, water and spices in a pan and heat until the sugar is dissolved. Add the pears (covering the top with a circle of parchment paper so they stay submerged in the liquid and cook evenly) and cook gently until a knife goes in with little resistance.

Remove the pears and leave to cool. (Why don’t you poach the pears in fresh ginger you ask? Fresh ginger is spicey hot, not good for desserts. While ground ginger is warm, great for cakes and caramel. It’s logic somewhere)

Remove the spiced and reduce (boiling down) until you have a thick syrup. (You don’t have to make the syrup from the poaching liquid but for me, it really elevated the dessert at the end)

FOR THE GINGER CARAMEL CREAM…

To make the caramel cream,  brown the butter in a pan before adding the cream and dark brown sugar and mix until melted together.  Add in the rest of the cream and chill in the fridge until cold.

FOR THE BROWN BUTTER SPONGE…

Brown you butter in a pan, decant into a bowl and set aside to cool. Whisk together the dry ingredients until evenly incorporated. Once the butter has cooled, combine with the rest of the wet ingredients and slowly mix into the dry ingredients until you have a smooth batter.

TO BAKE AND FINISH: Sprinkle your tin of choice with a generous handful of dark brown sugar before placing down the pears evenly across the bottom. Pour over your batter and bake for 30-35 minutes until golden and a skewer comes out clean when inserted.

Once baked, leave to cool in the tin before turning out. Serve with the ginger caramel cream, lightly whipped and a drizzle of the reducing poaching syrup. Heaven! I’m so glad we all got involved.

Catherine Parrott
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