Pears Baked in Cream

By creamtea • November 6, 2012 • 2 Comments

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Author Notes: I wanted a simple homey dessert of pears baked in cream. I only got a little carried away flipping through Martha Stewart's Pies and Tarts while trying to figure out whether to pre-cook the pears: Bake? Poach? Microwave? A recipe for a wine-poached custard-pear tart provided the basis for the poaching liquid and I had an open bottle of wine to use up. Unfortunately there wasn't nearly enough in there, so I opened a second bottle of same. This in itself was cause for celebration, so I sampled a little. Immediately things began to fall into place, not only on the kitchen counters but on the floors as well. I forged happily ahead. For the cream sauce I sort of did my own thing, referring a new book on my shelf, Gâteaux from the Fait Maison series for a sort of crème Anglais, but left out the eggs. Deliberately. It's still in the oven baking away. Let me know how you like it. - creamtea

Serves 6

to poach pears

3 firm-ripe Bosc pears, peeled, halved, the seeds scooped out with a melon baller, and cored with a sharp knife
4 cups sweet bubbly white wine (I used Moscato)
3 tablespoons granulated organic sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, split, and the seeds scraped with the point of a sharp knife
1 bunch freshly-squeezed lemon juice plus a little extra for squeezing over pears

for the final assembly

1 tablespoon butter plus extra for greasing the pan
2 cups half-and-half
3 tablespoons granulated organic sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, split, and the seeds scraped with the point of a sharp knife
2 tablespoons cornstarch, sifted

Pre-heat oven to 375º.
Butter a casserole large enough to hold the pear halves in one layer.
In a medium saucepan, combine the white wine, 3/4 C sugar, half-pod of the vanilla bean and seeds, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil and simmer, uncovered, 3-4 minutes. Add pear halves. Turn flame to low.
Poach for 10-15 minutes or until tender, lift with slotted spoon and place in buttered casserole cut-side down, alternating the direction of the pears. You may continue to boil down the syrup until reduced by 1/3, in order to brush a teaspoon or so of syrup onto each pear half. Dot each pear half with the tablespoon of butter.
In a small heavy saucepan, combine the half-and-half, the 3 tablespoons of sugar, the remaining 1/2 vanilla bean and its seeds, and the cornstarch. Over medium heat and whisking constantly, bring the cream mixture gently to a boil. Lower heat and continue to whisk until slightly thickened, about 8 minutes. Remove vanilla bean and gently pour cream around the pears. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 10 minutes; remove cover and bake an additional 20-40 minutes until custard has thickened and poufed a bit and top and edges have browned nicely. Remove from oven, serve warm.