Food & Cooking Recipes Dessert & Treats Recipes These Poached Pears Are the Ultimate Easy Fall Dessert 3.1 (146) Add your rating & review Our quick and simple recipe will teach you how to perfectly poach pears in apple cider. By Martha Stewart Martha Stewart Martha Stewart is a bestselling author, entrepreneur, and lifestyle expert who has taught millions of people through generations the joy of entertaining, cooking, gardening, collecting, crafting, and home renovating via her eponymous magazine, Martha Stewart Living, Emmy-winning television shows, and 99 books (and counting). Based in Katonah, N.Y., where she helms her 156-acre Bedford Farm, Martha is America's first self-made female billionaire. Editorial Guidelines Updated on December 1, 2023 Rate PRINT Share Prep Time: 10 mins Total Time: 45 mins Servings: 8 If you're looking for a quick, hands-off way to cook one of autumn's most delicious fruits, look no further than our recipe for easy poached pears. Poaching is a classic technique that involves submerging food in liquid and cooking it at a relatively low heat. This method ensures that ingredients don't dry out and are cooked as evenly as possible. Poaching is a particularly good technique to use for more delicate ingredients, from chicken breasts, fish filets, and eggs, to fresh fruits and vegetables. Grant Webster Pears have a semi-firm, juicy flesh that holds up well when poached. Our recipe cooks sweet Bosc pears in a slightly tart, acidic apple cider poaching liquid flavored with fresh lemon, cinnamon, allspice, and black pepper. The pears cook gently, absorbing all the delicious flavors. Once they are tender, the liquid is cooked down until it is thick and syrupy. Whether you're serving this dessert for holiday guests or family dinner, top it off with a drizzle of leftover poaching liquid and enjoy. 17 Delicious Recipes Featuring Pears—a Massively Underrated Fall Fruit What Is Poaching? There are two types of poaching methods—shallow and deep. With shallow poaching, the ingredients are partially submerged in the poached liquid. Deep poaching requires the food to be completely covered in liquid. While the type of poaching method you choose will depend on what you're poaching, each technique will start with cold ingredients. By slowly heating the poaching liquid, the food will cook evenly and thoroughly each time. Our poached pear recipe uses a shallow poaching technique. As the pears cook, simply rotate them occasionally to ensure they are cooking evenly on each side. We also use a piece of wax or parchment paper to cover the fruit as it cooks—this not only helps avoid oxidation and keep the pears from turning brown but it also helps trap some steam, which encourages even cooking. When poaching fruit like pears, we like to use a liquid that has both some sweetness and acidity. In this recipe, we use apple cider, but wine is a popular choice. The Best Pears for Poaching Our go-to varieties of pears for poaching are Bosc, Anjou, and Bartlett. Each of these pears is quite firm, so they hold their shape and texture when cooked. When choosing your pears at the farm stand or supermarket, look for pears that are still firm and just beginning to ripen. These will be packed with flavor, but won’t dissolve or become mushy when poached. Coring Whole Pears for Poaching Coring a whole pear is a lot simpler than it might seem. Start off by peeling away the skin with a vegetable peeler, leaving a smooth surface. Then, use a melon baller or a teaspoon measure to gently scoop out the core, starting from the blossom (non-stem) end of the fruit. You can do the same with other fruits like apples. Working with a firm fruit will make this process easier since you can get a good grip on the pear without worrying about it turning to mush. How to Serve Poached Pears Eat the poached pears with a spoon and knife with a drizzle of poaching liquid. Serve over a bed of mascarpone, ricotta, or crème fraîche. Drizzle with honey or maple syrup and top with a generous dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream. Top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or lemon sorbet and a drizzle of store-bought or homemade caramel sauce. Chop them up and use as a condiment on a cheese board. Ingredients Zest of 1 lemon, cut into thin strips 1 cinnamon stick, broken in half ¼ teaspoon ground allspice ¼ teaspoon ground pepper 3 cups apple cider 1 cup water 8 Bosc pears (with stems), peeled and cored from bottom Lemon sorbet, for serving (optional) Directions Grant Webster Make poaching liquid: In a large saucepan, combine lemon zest, cinnamon stick, allspice, ground pepper, apple cider, and water. Grant Webster Poach pears: Add pears. Cover with waxed paper to prevent discoloring. Bring to a simmer. Cook, turning pears occasionally, until easily pierced with the tip of a paring knife, but not falling apart, about 20 minutes. Grant Webster Remove pears: Remove pears from liquid; transfer to large bowl. Grant Webster Reduce poaching liquid and serve: Raise heat to high; boil cider mixture until reduced to a syrup, about 15 minutes. Discard cinnamon. Grant Webster Add syrup to pears: Pour syrup over pears; refrigerate. Grant Webster To serve: Slice off a sliver from the bottom of each pear (so it stands upright). Serve pears with whipped cream, crème fraîche, or lemon sorbet, if desired. Grant Webster Grant Webster Making Poached Pears Ahead of Time You can and should make poached pears ahead of time. Ideally, you want the pears to cool down in the poaching liquid and serve them chilled. This can be done up to one day ahead of time. Keep the pears tightly covered to prevent any odors from the refrigerator from permeating the fruit. Frequently Asked Questions Should I peel the pears before poaching? The skin of pears tends to have a bitter bite to it because of tannins. Because of this, we like to use a vegetable peeler to remove the skin before poaching. How do you keep pears covered while poaching? If you notice your pears are bobbing to the top of the pot as they cook, you can use a lid that is slightly smaller than the pot to weigh them down. How ripe should pears be for poaching? Pears used for poaching should be ripe, but firm. Pears that are too soft won't hold up well when submerged in liquid for more than a few minutes. Can I reheat poached pears? If you don't want to serve poached pears chilled, you can gently reheat them in their poaching liquid on the stovetop. Cover and cook over medium-low heat just until warmed through. To check their temperature, insert a thin-bladed knife into the center of the pear for a few seconds, then pull it out. If the blade feels warm to the touch, they are ready. More Poached Pear Recipes to Try: Poached Pears with Ginger Balsamic-Rosemary Poached Pears Poached Pears with Saffron Whipped Cream Cranberry-Poached Pears Red Wine Poached Pears Poached Pears with Gingerbread Originally appeared: Everyday Food, April 2004 Rate It PRINT Updated by Riley Wofford Riley Wofford Riley is an associate food editor for Martha Stewart Living.