Pears Poached in Vanilla Syrup

Pears Poached in Vanilla Syrup

I love a good dessert recipe that is lighter for the summer, healthy so I can also partake, and is something I've never cooked before.

This recipe fits all three!  I found it in the Awakening Beauty book that I was gifted awhile back.  The authors have some great recipes even though it's not a cookbook.

I have never poached fruit before, but have wanted to try it.

Turns out it's super easy, and we really liked the dish.

I started the dish just as we were sitting down to dinner. 

By the time we were done eating, dessert was ready.

Thomas helped me with this dish.  We combined water, sugar, vanilla extract, and a a piece of lemon, and boiled it until the sugar had dissolved.  Then we simmered it for a few minutes. 

Then we added peeled, seeded pears to the pot and let the pears cook until they were translucent around the edges. 

I knew we wouldn't overcook them on simmer, so we let them cook for 15 minutes or so while we ate.  I think it takes much less time for them to reach this point though.

And done! 

I think a sprinkling of cinnamon would be great on these as well.

The pears had a great sweet flavor. 

The only advice I would give is to prepare only the number you are going to eat that day.

Because there isn't much citrus in the recipe, the pears turn brown eventually.

The original recipe called for a vanilla bean, split lengthwise but I was out, so we just went with a Tbsp of vanilla extract and it worked well.

Double click to print as a 5x7 recipe card.

Enjoy!