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Mulled pears

Boozy bakes and adult puds · British recipes

Mulled pears, three ways

Transform classic poached pears into a Christmas showstopper, with our beautiful trio of mulled fruits. Choose your favourite or try all three, with a decadent matching sauce to boot – after all, it is Christmas! Love these flavours? Check out our hazelnut meringue cake sandwiched with whipped cream and mulled pears, too…

Dairy-freeGluten-freeVegan
Serves6
Hands-on20 min
Oven25 min
DifficultyEasy

Method

  1. Pour the wine, cider or water/tea into a pan that will fit the liquid and the pears snugly (so they’ll be fully submerged in the liquid). Add the relevant fruit and spices, pour in the 125g sugar, then put over a low heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover and leave to infuse for 15 minutes.

  2. Meanwhile, peel the pears, leaving the stalks intact, and trim the base so they’re flat enough to stand upright. Put in a bowl of water with a squeeze of lemon juice so they don’t turn brown while you’re waiting for the liquid to infuse.

  3. Return the flavourings pan to the heat and add the pears. Bring to a gentle simmer and submerge the pears in the liquid for 20-25 minutes, turning occasionally, until just tender. Remove to a bowl and set aside to cool.

  4. You can either bring the poaching liquid back to the boil and reduce by three quarters (to about 250ml) until thick and syrupy, or use it to make one of the sauces mentioned.

Nutrition

Per serving (Serves 6)
Calories173kcals
Fat0g
Protein0.5g
Carbohydrates41g (39g sugars)
Fibre4.3g

Quick wins, tips & make ahead

You can also serve the pears with a sauce…

Mulled wine syrup (for the red wine pears)

Reduce the mulling liquid from the wine poached pears over a medium high heat and add 2 tsp liquid glucose until thick and syrupy. Stir in some edible glitter if you like. Serve warm.

Caramel sauce (for the cider pears)

Put 150g golden caster sugar in a saucepan with 75g of the reduced poaching liquid and 2 tsp liquid glucose. Bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved, then remove the spoon. Bubble, swirling the pan every now and then, until the liquid turns amber. Add 200ml double cream (careful it will bubble up and may spit) and stir to combine. Add a pinch of salt and some gold edible glitter (if you like). It will thicken as it cools, so set aside for about 10 minutes and serve warm.

White chocolate and cardamom sauce (for the white tea pear)

Put 100g chopped white chocolate, 200ml double cream and 2 bashed cardamom pods in a small pan over a low-medium heat. Cook gently, stirring, until melted and combined. Scoop out the cardamom pods, then stir in some silver edible glitter (if you like). Serve warm.

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