Hot Chocolate Poached Pears
This is a comforting and lovely alternative to wine-poached pears. Letting the cooked pears steep in the chocolate poaching liquid overnight helps intensify the chocolate flavor. These pears are best served warm. This recipe can be doubled.
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Ingredients
- 3 ¼ cups water
- 1 ¼ cups sugar
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- ½ teaspoon allspice berries
- 3 cloves
- 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate chopped
- 1 ounce unsweetened chocolate chopped
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons dark rum
- Pinch of salt
- 2 semi-firm ripe pears peeled, halved, and cored
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, bring the water, sugar, cinnamon sticks, allspice, and cloves to a simmer over medium-high heat to dissolve the sugar. Add the chocolates, cocoa powder, rum, and salt and whisk until the chocolate is melted and smooth.
- Add the pears and poach them for 45 minutes over low heat. Turn them over once halfway through the cooking process so they cook more evenly. They should be tender enough that a knife inserted in the thickest part will easily slip in and out.
- Keep the pears warm until ready to serve. If you’re not using them right away, you may refrigerate the pears in their poaching liquid in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
- To reheat, warm the pears in their poaching liquid in a saucepan over medium-low heat and drizzle the sauce over it before serving.
Notes
Reprinted with permission from Bluestem: The Cookbook by Colby Garrelts and Megan Garrelts, with Bonjwing Lee/ Andrews McMeel Publishing
Servings: 4 servings