Spiced poached pears with orange butter

Name: Spiced poached pears with orange butter
Prep time: 1 h
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 2 h
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons Cointreau; fresh mint leaves, to garnish; 6 pears, about 1.5 kg (3 lb); 120 g (4 oz) unsalted butter, cut into cubes; 400 ml (12¾ fl oz) orange juice; 4 star anise; 10 whole black peppercorns; pinch of nutmeg; 3 cloves; 660 g (1 lb 6 oz) sugar; 800 g (1 lb 10 oz) oranges; 3 sticks cinnamon; 1 vanilla pod, split lengthways; 1 lemon

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Medium
Ready in
2 hr

Appears in

Desserts

By Le Cordon Bleu

Published 1998

About

In this simply elegant dessert, the pears are gently infused with the flavours of real vanilla and star anise, then fringed with wisps of candied peel, and served with a Cointreau-laced orange sauce.

Ingredients

1 lemon
800 g (1 lb 10 oz)

Dessert
Vegetarian
Gluten-free

Method

Peel the rind off the lemon and an orange with a vegetable peeler, without scraping the bitter white pith. Place the rind in a large pan with 2 litres water and 500 g (