Coffee-Poached Pears with Cinnamon Twists

The idea for this recipe came from my frugal Scottish-German grandmother, who never wasted anything. With my eye on the leftover coffee I always seem to have around, I developed this poaching liquid for pears. Classically, red wine is used to poach fruits and, as I thought about it, I realized that coffee has many of the same qualities as wine: acidity, tannin, and rich flavor. The Cinnamon Twists, which I find irresistible, came later.