Sweetened with honey and fruit juice, this dessert is wonderfully warm and a ‘not-to-heavy’ complement to a rich holiday meal. While somewhat time-consuming, most of it is time spent waiting, so this can easily be prepared after dinner.
The first time I made this recipe I left the skins on, which doesn’t affect the taste, only gives the finished product a bit more texture.
This is quite a sweet dessert, but you can drizzle a bit more glaze onto the plate if you’d like and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds. Personally I like the contrast of the rich cream along with the sweetness of the pomegranates. For this particular occasion I mixed 1/4 cup cream, one raw egg yolk, splash of vanilla, and a sprinkle of cinnamon together and drizzled alongside the pear and glaze – a perfect complement!
- 4 ripe, yet firm, pears
- 32 ounces pomegranate juice
- ⅓ cup honey
- Zest and juice from one lemon
- One cinnamon stick
- 2 Tbsp vanilla extract (mixed with 1 Tbsp organic cornstarch)
- Seeds from one pomegranate
- Wash pears and remove the core from the bottom with a small knife or apple corer. Peel them if you’d like the flesh to turn a deep red color. Leave them on if you’d rather be quick about it. (Let’s just tell folks we want the extra nutrients!)
- Place the pomegranate juice and honey in a saucepan, heat until boiling. Add the cinnamon stick, lemon zest and lemon juice. Place the pears on their sides in the hot liquid and simmer for 10 minutes. Roll them over and simmer for another 10 minutes, or until soft.
- Remove the pears and strain 2 cups of the liquid into a small saucepan, continue simmering and reduce by half.
- To make the hot juice into a glaze, gradually whisk in the vanilla/cornstarch mixture and continue to simmer until it becomes slightly thick, about 10-12 minutes.
- Place each pear onto an individual serving plate and spoon a small amount of glaze over each one.
If you’d like other healthy dessert options for this holiday season, please stop by my friend Kate’s blog at Modern Alternative Mama as she hosts this next stop in the Whole Foods for the Holidays, a real food progressive dinner!
Donielle Baker
