Mulled Pomegranate Cider Poached Pears

December 9, 2015 by Sarah Menanix · Modified: Apr 8, 2019

I originally planned to share this recipe as "Mulled Pomegranate Cider Poached Pears with Vegan Cardamom Ice Cream & Candied Pecans," but I thought you'd all be too tired after reading the title to actually feel inspired to make it (which would be a darn shame!). So I've split it into two posts (get the cardamom ice cream recipe here!). But really all the pieces are quite simple, I promise. And if you want to blow your guests away with a holiday sundae, you should pick up some pears and head to your kitchen asap.

While the spices are mulling, the pears are poaching, and the ice cream is steeping, you'll have plenty of time to watch cat videos. Speaking of - surely you've all seen videos of cats climbing (and knocking over) Christmas trees, right? In years past, our cats have seem most interested in sleeping among the gifts beneath the tree.

Until this year.

The year they finally realized we set up a giant tree full of shiny cat toys hanging from the branches - obviously just for them! Last night, we came into the living room to find Aioli ⅔ the way up the tree, laying among the lights and ornaments (left). Just chillin' like "yeah, this is a great cat bed." Then while writing this post - this happened (right).

This morning, I found a scattering of my childhood ~~ornaments~~ cat toys all around the tree skirt and not a guilty cat in sight. They are trying their hardest to prepare us for toddlerhood. Let's keep our fingers crossed the tree stays standing through the season.

We've officially embraced the holidays at Chez Menanix - I've got Christmas tunes blasting all day, while Lucas throws old holiday classic movies on repeat at night. We've even got some of mom's homemade english toffee to munch on and allofthebakedgoods loaded up on plates for the neighbors. With the aroma of mulled pomegranate cider wafting through the house, it's feeling mighty Christmas-y up in here.

When my shiny multi-cooker moved in, I packed up my rice cooker and my slow cooker to replace them with just one appliance that does everything those two did and more. It sears, steams, simmers, boils, and even makes yogurt - it's a super appliance! One that's also so much sexier than its predecessors.

In the case of these poached pears, you can set the multi-cooker to boil or simmer and go back to watching Home Alone and decorating your tree without having to keep an eye on the flame. Plus in the hustle and bustle of holiday cooking, it opens up extra space on the stove for all your other goodies.

Anything that allows me the freedom to make these mulled pomegranate cider poached pears without standing over the stove is a major win. With a drizzle of aromatic mulled pomegranate syrup on top, these warm poached pears are sweet and citrusy with roasty toasty fall mulled spices infused throughout. Serve them over a few scoops of homemade vegan cardamom ice cream with a handful of candied pecans sprinkled on top, and you've got a wintry sundae worthy of gold medals. Get the recipe for the vegan cardamom ice cream up here!

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Mulled Pomegranate Cider Poached Pears

Yield: 4 poached pears (serves 8 w/ ice cream)

Ingredients