February 27, 2009

Baked Pears with Vanilla Ice Cream

baked pears

I was half listening to Lynn Rosetto of the Splendid Table and she was describing a baked pear dessert she had with ice cream that she had when she was a child. It sounded delicious and so simple to make. I decided to give it a try just as she said you put the pears in when you sit down to eat dinner. The smell of cinnamon is wonderful along with the pleasing sound of the ice cream maker in the pantry churning up some delicious vanilla ice cream. The kids were so excited - wanting to know why they smelled cinnamon.

I just loved the combination of the warm pears with the cold vanilla ice cream (see below for recipe).

Baked Pears

2 d’anjou pears, peeled, cored and cut into wedges
1 tablespoon of fresh squeezed lemon juice
Zest of 1 lemon
1 to 2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 to 3 tablespoons of cold butter, cubed

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit
Toss prepared pears in a medium bowl with lemon juice.
Add the lemon zest, brown sugar, and cinnamon and coat pears thoroughly.
Pour pears into a baking dish.
Sprinkle cold cubed butter on top of pears.
Bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.

Increase oven temperature to 500 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 more minutes to get the sugar good and caramelly.  Watch closely at this point.

baked pears with vanilla ice cream

Vanilla Philadelphia Style Recipe
Preparation Time: 5 minutes

2 cups (473 ml) of half and half (1 cup of heavy cream and 1 cup of whole, full fat milk)
1 cup (237 ml) heavy cream
2/3 (128 grams) cup sugar
Dash of salt
1 (12 grams) tablespoon of vanilla

Mix all ingredients together (we do this in a plastic pitcher and mix with an emulsifier hand blender-whisking works too).
Refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer

Mix in your ice cream maker as directed.

baked pears with vanilla ice cream

pears

2 comments:

stampmonkey said...

I just stumbled onto your blog and wanted to tell you how much I enjoy it! Your recipes sound (and look...beautiful photography!) absolutely delicious. I'm looking forward to trying some of them out for my family.

This pear recipe sounds wonderful. Can you tell me if any type of pears would be preferred over another?

Many thanks, and thanks so much for taking the time to add such thoughtful commentary to each of your recipes.

W said...

Thank-you for your super nice comments. I am glad you came across my blog - I find so many gems that way (my favorites file is huge).

The first time I made this I used D'Anjou pears and they were gritty. My kids didn't care for the grit. This weekend I used Bosc which had some texture but smoother. I must add that the next time I will use some maple syrup for extra richness. Thanks again for your comments, they put a smile on my face!