Spiced Chai Poached Pears & Pear Syrup
yields: 4 -6 servings of poached pear topping and ⅓ cup 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
The poached pears will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.
*I used a stainless steel pot on a gas burner, but one reader said it took her longer to reduce the pear syrup. If this happens to you, try adding an additional tablespoon of sugar and increasing the heat slightly - it will eventually reduce! Also, if you doubled the recipe, the syrup will most definitely take more like 10-15 minutes to reduce.
