I feel that pears have a bad rap in the dessert world. I actually used to think they were the non-worthy before but now I think THEY’RE SO GOOD!!! These white wine poached pears wrapped in dough are delicious. I will also give you lots of options for replacements and changes according to what you have at hand. It can even be done wine-less!
The Recipe
I originally wrote this recipe in December for KitchenAid’s Christmas Recipes but until now I haven’t had the time to upload it! These pears are poached in white wine with lots of spices, which makes them be just wonderful. Then that poaching liquid is boiled to get a syrupy sauce. Besides that, I also made a dough to bake them in. I ate them all by myself! Yes, I ate 8 pears by myself. I just couldn’t resist, they’re too DELICIOUS! Honestly, this recipe is amazing and I cannot find more words to transmit that to you, lol. To roll out the dough I used the Pasta Roller Attachment for the KitchenAid Stand Mixer which makes the work a lot easier. Of course, you can also use a rolling pin to get it nice and thin.
Red Wine?
If you prefer, you can poach these pears in red wine instead! The result is also amazing and you can check the video lines below to see how I make them. Choose whatever your heart desires :). You can also wrap the dough around those pears and the result is as good. You can see that I really like poached pears, right? It’s just that it’s such an easy dessert, delicious, sophisticated and anyone can make it at home. I know that it looks less decadent than a chocolate chip cookie or gooey brownies, but I swear they deserve the same amount of attention.
Let’s be flexible
Given the current circumstances, I will say that the ingredients are extremely easy to replace. You don’t necessarily have to use wine, for example. You can poach the pears in water with the other ingredients and they turn out delicious, too! Of course, the wine takes it to another level but there’s nothing wrong in adapting recipes at this time. I give you lots of swap ideas in the recipe <3. Finally, you can choose not to wrap them in dough, but I highly recommend it!
Ingredients
For the white wine poached pears
- 6 pears
- 1 bottle white wine I used Sauvignon Blanc. You can also not use wine and poach in water with the aromatics.
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 6 cloves
- 200 g granulated sugar
- Zest from 1 lemon
- You can also include star anise, orange zest, vanilla, etc. Get creative with what you have at home.
For the dough
- 250 g all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp salt
- 5 tbsp water
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil
- 4 tbsp granulated sugar
To paint the dough
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp water
Instructions
For the poached pears
- Peel the pears and place them in a large pot with the white wine, cinnamon, cloves, sugar and lemon zest. You also want to add enough water to cover the pears.
- Cook them over medium heat with the lid on until they're soft. The time it takes depends on how ripe the pears are. It can be between 10 and 40 minutes. Check every 10 minutes to make sure you're not over-cooking them. You should be able to poke the pears with a knife with ease.
- Remove the pears from the pot and make the liquid boil over high heat without the lid on. Stop the cooking when the bubbles start to go up the sides of the pot. Make sure you don't burn it! Pass the liquid through a colander or sieve and let it cool down completely. You will notice that as it cools down it will turn syrupy. If you missed the mark and it's too thick, you can warm it up (you can use the microwave) and add a bit of water.
For the dough
- Mix all the ingredients until fully incorporated. Wrap it up and let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Roll out a section of the dough using a rolling pin until it's about 5mm thick. Pass it throgh the Pasta Roller Attachment on thickness 1. Repeat on thickensses 2 and 3. Alternatively, you can use a rolling pin to take it to 2mm thick. Cut the dough in 5mm strips. Repeat the process until you use up all your dough.
- Wrap the pears (cooled to room temperature) in the dough strips. Paint them with the mix of egg and water.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C / 350°F for 1h-1h20min or until the dough is golden.
- Serve the pears warm or cold with the sauce.
