Description
Sweet, tender stewed pears infused with warm cinnamon and fragrant vanilla, perfect as a light dessert or a comforting snack. This recipe stews ripe pears gently in a cinnamon-vanilla syrup, producing soft fruit with rich, aromatic flavors.
Ingredients
Scale
Fruit
- 4 ripe pears, peeled, cored, and cut into quarters or chunks
- ½ lemon, juice only (to sprinkle over pears)
Stewing Liquid
- 250 ml water
- 25 g brown sugar
- 2 small cinnamon sticks or ½-1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped out (or use entire bean if preferred)
Instructions
- Prepare the vanilla bean: Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Use half or the whole bean as desired for a full vanilla flavor.
- Make the stewing syrup: In a medium saucepan, combine water, brown sugar, cinnamon sticks (or ground cinnamon), vanilla seeds, and the vanilla bean pod. Heat gently until the sugar fully dissolves and the liquid reaches a gentle simmer.
- Prepare the pears: While the liquid is heating, peel, core, and quarter the pears. Sprinkle the cut pears with lemon juice to prevent browning and maintain their color.
- Stew the pears: Add the pears to the simmering liquid, ensuring they are mostly submerged. If necessary, add a bit more water to cover. Let them stew gently for 5 to 15 minutes depending on ripeness, stirring occasionally.
- Check doneness: Test the pears by piercing them with a knife. When the knife slides in easily with little resistance, the pears are perfectly stewed.
- Serve: Remove the pears from heat. Serve warm or chilled as a delicious, lightly spiced dessert.
Notes
- You can use either cinnamon sticks or ground cinnamon, but sticks infuse a milder, more nuanced flavor.
- Adjust the stewing time depending on how ripe your pears are; very ripe pears require less time.
- The lemon juice stops the pears from browning and keeps their color bright.
- If you want a thicker syrup, after removing pears, gently simmer the liquid to reduce it further.
- For a vegan option, this recipe is naturally vegan as it uses plant-based ingredients only.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 of recipe (approximate)
- Calories: 90
- Sugar: 18 g
- Sodium: 2 mg
- Fat: 0.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 0 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0.1 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 24 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 0.5 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
