Poached Pears in Honey, Ginger, and Cinnamon Syrup

So, this is the dessert I made New Year’s Eve. It is from “Giada at Home” by Giada de Laurentiis. I only used 2 pears (the recipe calls for 6), so I adjusted the amount of ingredients for the sauce accordingly. Mine looked nothing like the photo in the cookbook, but it was still delicious!

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 (750ml) bottle Moscato wine or other sweet dessert wine

2 cinnamon sticks

2 teaspoons honey

1 (3/4 inch) piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped

1 vanilla bean, split lenghwise

6 small, firm, ripe Anjou or Bosc pears, peeled and cored

Vanilla ice cream or gelato

In a saucepan large enough to hold all the pears, combine the sugar with 1 1/2 cups of water. Bring to a boil and stir to dissolve the sugar. Add the wine, cinnamon sticks, honey, and ginger. Scrape in the seeds from the vanilla bean and add the bean to the saucepan. Bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until the honey has melted.

Add the pears and simmer over medium-low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, turning occassionally until the pears are tender when pierced with a small knife. Remove the pears from the liquid and allow to cool. Continue to simmer the liquid until it thickens and is reduced by half, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool to room temperature. Discard the cinnamon sticks and vanilla bean.

Place each pear on a small serving plate with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Drizzle with the poaching syrup. Serve immediately.