Poached Pear Pie

A delicious, easy recipe for a downright classy dessert.

Step 1: Trim pears

Select some nice, firm, just-ripe Bosc pears.

While other pears might do, the Bosc will hold up best to poaching, and still have some nice solidity after baking.

Peel and halve the pears, then use a paring knife to remove the seeds, stem, and any other damaged or woody bits you'd rather not eat.

Comments

[Mauigerbil]

EPIC SAD FACE :~{ Why out of all the foods in the world, do I have to be allergic to PEARS!!!!

[AndyGadget]

Looks tasty and our pears are just ripening. I'm going to have to try this.

I'd never heard of Bosc pears, but they look very similar to the Conference pear which is more common in the UK (and what our tree is).

[canida]

Mmmm. Thanks for reminding me I need to make this again as well!

How did your pie go?

[I_am_Canadian]

Looks like you couldent resist eating some of it before you made this instructable, eh?

[Trice]

Could the Green Tea be replaced by a red-wine or a port poaching liquid for those of us who love pears but have an adverse reaction to most tea?

[canida]

Definitely! That's the more traditional version of pear poaching. Check out Patrik's comment below.

[Patrik]

For a more traditional poached pear recipe, you could use red wine instead of tea. Since 'tis the Season, you could even use a recipe for mulled wine (ginger, orange zest, cloves, anise... sound familiar?) Needless to say, pears poached in red wine with a red wine reduction saucef orm a nicely decadent dessert by themselves as well.

[Babyshoes]

I was thinking of red wine poached pears as I was reading this, but it looks like I have been pipped to the post! We often do pears poached in wine with a few cloves, sugar and some cinnamon, which are decadent by themselves with a little cream. Might actually be too rich for pie though?!? MMM, now I am craving pie!

[canida]

I'd run into poached pears before, but figured modifying them for inclusion in pie would maintain the taste, with the added bonus of PIE! (Yes, I'm a big fan of pie.) I'm not a huge fan of mulled wine, thus the tea, but now I'm considering using mulled cider. Mmmmmm.

[Patrik]

Ah, but red wine gives you that beautiful glowing color! I'm curious why you're not a fan of mulled wine, considering you're using a very similar set of ingredients here (minus the wine, of course). Just not a big wine fan? For extra decadence, try poaching in a sweet red dessert wine, like madeira or even port. I wouldn't adulterate it with too many additional spices in that case.

[canida]

Exactly- just not a big wine fan. I prefer my fruit unfermented. I like the idea of poaching in port or madeira, though.

[ningo]

Poaching in red wine would be very similar to poaching in port-I don't add any spices to the wine, just sugar when reducing it.

Pears poached in red wine is *the* way to serve pears IMO. But the pie looks good; I bet poached pear crumble served with custard would be equally good.

[T3h_Muffinator]

PIE!

[canida]

pie >> muffins

[T3h_Muffinator]

I'd be careful about what you say... the muffins are coming relatively soon....

[T3h_Muffinator]

Pumpkin muffins, that is!

[canida]

o.O

[Half-Handed Cloud]

About how much of the peppercorns, cinnamon, and whole cloves, star anise, vanilla beans, and allspice do you recommend?

[canida]

That's really a "to taste" question! The best I can do is provide a baseline then suggest you modify it according to your preferences. Thus, I'd suggest starting with your choices from the following: about a dozen peppercorns or allspice berries, a stick of cinnamon, half a dozen cloves, one or two pieces of star anise, and a vanilla bean. (Honestly I skip the vanilla bean, figuring the added vanilla at the end will do it.)

[GorillazMiko]

dang, looks so good

[jongscx]

When I first read this, I imagined a bunch of hunters riding jeeps on the african savannah, illegally hunting wild pears... Looks good *drool*

[Ducky Boy]

Oooohh, PIE! Yess! Better than cake, have you ever heard of pear and tea cake? Yeah, I didn't think so. The pie looks amazing by the way :)

[robodud3]

looks friggin delicious i love pears and tea togather eating a pear with some iced tea from like tevana or trader joes is just the best

[zachninme]

Looks yumtastic! (yes, I went there)