Last week I promised I'd share the sweet variation of my amaranth waffles next, but then I made the most ridiculous (and delicious) waffles that it was just too much to share in one post without cueing major eye rolls: gluten-free sweet amaranth waffles with spiced chai poached pears, chai pear syrup, and candied popped amaranth. So let's take it one step at a time and do what I did in real life: poach the pears and reduce the pear syrup ahead of time in preparation for epic waffles. We'll waffle again soon.
With a vengeance.
On the day her cookbook shipped, Alanna showed up at my house with a FULL tart just for me boxed up with the sweetest thank you card. It was her big day and she was bringing me presents?! What is this insanity? Pears poached in smoky lapsang souchong tea nestled in a delicate custard bundled up in a chestnut crust. It was insane delicious with hints of banana notes and I ate the whole thing.
Inspired by her use of tea instead of wine to poach the pears, I mulled these spiced chai poached pear slices as the topping for my sweet amaranth waffle variation (coming soon!). With a balance of traditional masala chai aromatics - from ginger to cinnamon to fennel seed to black peppercorns - these pears are spicy and roasty and sweet and warm and I want to put them on all the fall things.
As I was typing up the recipe a second ago, Lucas came in the room and said, "I like how you're sitting there alone smiling at yourself right now, Sarah."
These pears are so damn good that the mere thought of them - pears brewing in black tea with vanilla beans, ginger, cardamom, etc. - MAKES ME SMILE when no one is watching.
While you could certainly poach the pears whole or halved, I sliced them before poaching to deeply infuse each bite with spice. When the pears were fragrant and soft, I ladled them out and reduced the poaching liquid into a chai pear syrup that is - dare I say - better than honey or maple syrup. Serve the pears atop waffles or yogurt or vegan vanilla bean ice cream or even vanilla bean haupia. Then douse it all in a drizzle of chai pear syrup.
I highly recommend stacking the pears up with crispy amaranth waffles. Todd and I made lettuce wraps and scheduled the post for next week though, so we'll prep pears, then lettuce wraps, THEN waffles. We will get to the waffles, though, I promise. And they're so worth the wait.
Thanks for reading Snixy Kitchen! To stay up on what’s coming out of my kitchen, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Bloglovin‘, Pinterest, or subscribe via e-mail to get new recipes right to your inbox.
Recipe
Spiced Chai Poached Pears & Pear Syrup
Ingredients
- 3 cups water
- ½ cup granulated sugar, divided
- 2 black tea bags, I used breakfast tea
- 1 whole vanilla bean, sliced and scraped
- 3 dime-sized slices ginger
- 3 cardamom pods, smashed
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 3 whole cloves
- ¼ teaspoon whole peppercorns
- ⅛ teaspoon whole fennel seeds
- 2 pears, peeled, cored, and sliced into eighths
INSTRUCTIONS
- Combine water, ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, black tea bags, vanilla bean seeds and pod, and all spices in a large pot and heat over medium heat and bring to a boil.
- Add the pear slices and reduce heat to medium low. Cook for 15 minutes until the pears are soft when pricked with a fork. Remove pears with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Add remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar and increase heat to medium-high and cook, stirring, until it syrup thickens, about 3-5 min.*
- Strain syrup into a heat-proof bowl or pitcher to serve alongside the pears.
- Serve pears and pear syrup on top of sweet waffles (recipe coming!), yogurt, your favorite vanilla ice cream, or with a dollop of whipped cream.
Notes
Lauren @ Climbing Grier Mountain -
If you could slide a plate of these over this morning that would be fantastic!
Sarah Menanix -
Done and done;)
Phi @ The Sweetphi Blog -
I don't think you could have posted this recipe at a more perfect time. I was gifted more pears than I know what to do with, and just kind of drew a blank on what I wanted to do with them. These spiced poached pears - yes - they're happening tonight!
Sarah Menanix -
Oh man! Poached pears!! I hope you made and loved them!! (Also: Pear Galettes and Pear Almond Cake...in case you still have more pears;)
Phi @ The Sweetphi Blog -
OK, just wanted to come back and let you know that I made these, and they ROCKED! Like, legit, rocked my socks off. Such a delicious flavor combination. They didn't even make it into anything else, because we just ate them with some vanilla ice cream. So good!
gerry @ foodness gracious -
Chai is such an awesome flavor and on top of the waffles?? Sign me up!!
Sarah Menanix -
I agree - I could eat chai anything!
Joyce @ Sun Diego Eats -
I always forget about how lovely poached pears are until I have them in a dessert in a restaurant and then remind myself of how easy of a dessert they are to make at home - waffle or no waffle!
...well definitely no waffle for me as I don't have a waffle iron :)
Sarah Menanix -
Hehe - I vote that it's time to get a waffle iron;) Also I've got two more waffles coming up soonish sooooo.....there will be lots of excuses to use it!
Taylor @ Food Faith Fitness -
LOVE the simplicity of these photos! I don't eat NEAR enough pears...and I am always up for anything chai, so these are a must try!
Sarah Menanix -
Thanks Taylor! Simplicity is mostly because: no time to make it more complicated for fear the baby will wake up! Ha! Hope you love the pears!
Katherine -
Sounds amazing. Having family for an early family Thanksgiving the end of October. Hope to wow them with the amaranth waffles and pears. Please!
Sarah Menanix -
What a treat! I'll have the waffles up next week so you'll have the full recipe!!
Nicole ~ cooking for keeps -
Pears have always been my favorite fruit, but it wasn't until recently that I started poaching them. I MUST try this poaching liquid! And I can't wait to see the waffles!
Sarah Menanix -
Thanks Nicole! I'm excited to share the waffles ASAP!
Naomi @BakersRoyale -
These pears look amazing! I can't wait to use them for topping pancakes or ice cream!
Sarah Menanix -
YES! Pancakes! Mmmmm....Thanks!!
Ellie | from scratch, mostly -
Sarah, I love that you used whole spices in this recipe!!!! I can't always find or afford (or sometimes aka too busy/lazy to search for them due to kids) whole spices but lately I've been cooking with them more and it makes suuuuuuch a difference!!!!! Fennel is amazing, by the way. And I was so so so proud of you and felt kind of giddy when I saw your name in the cookbook! I already made one recipe and I'm loving it....Rather wholesome but decadent. Can't wait to share it :)
Sarah Menanix -
Ooo yeah! I love mulling with whole spices in the fall/winter, so I tend to have them on hand. I also just discovered that our Whole Foods has whole spices in the bulk section so you don't have to buy a whole jar of something you're not going to use! Aww you're so sweet! I'm so proud of her cookbook - what did you make??
Carla -
As you know, you had me at "spiced chai". MMmmmmm.
Sarah Menanix -
;) You mean chai tea right? Hehe
Alanna -
Mmm! Those waffles are totally worth waiting for, especially with spicy poached pears to nom in the meantime. Craving these hard right now!
Sarah Menanix -
I'm so glad you got to try them! Thank you so much!! <3 Thanks for the tea inspiration!
Brenda @ a farmgirl's dabbles -
I love the peppercorns in this recipe. Gorgeous!
Sarah Menanix -
Thank you Brenda! They give the chai just a little bit of spiciness!
Todd Wagner | HonestlyYUM -
Holy yum!! I think I'm gonna steal this poaching technique for a cocktail recipe sometime soon (does it count as stealing if I tell you first?).
- "Waffle Delayer, Stealer of Pears"
Sarah Menanix -
I won't hold it against you if I get to taste test.
traci | VanillaAndBean -
So much goodness here Sarah! From the pears, and waffles to the lettuce cups you and Todd made. What a bonanza of incredible flavors and textures! I adore chai spices, so this has completely sucked me in. I had tea poached pears years ago, and you've reminded me how delicious they are. Love that looong vanilla pod in there too... you captured this recipe beautifully, Sarah!
Sarah Menanix -
Thanks! I wasn't planning on sharing this separately, but they are so worth it!!
janet -
my house smells like heaven at the moment, if they serve chai in heaven, which I suppose (judging by the smell of this pear syrup as it reduces) they must--or maybe they got the whole 'heaven' idea from the smell...thank you!
Sarah Menanix -
Oh my goodness! I'm so happy you made them! How did they turn out? What did you serve them on? :) I hope you loved them as much as I do!
janet -
They are delicious! Great mix of flavors. My son is a fool for poached pears, so I served them (wait for it; it's really fancy) in a jar in his lunchbox, after serving myself a few on a spoon. I did find the syrup took a long time to reduce, as you mentioned. I might start with less water next time.
Sarah Menanix -
Oh interesting! You're the second person who had that experience. Mine reduced rather quickly, so I'm going to make them again this week to see what might have happened! I wonder if it has to do with the kind of pot I use? Now I have some more experimenting to do! Also, if you start with less water, that would work too - the key is just to make sure that there's enough liquid to cover the pears.
Also, can you make my lunches too? What a lucky son you have - I hope he knows how loved he is to get homemade poached pears in his lunchbox!!