Pepper-caramel roasted Pears with Labna

Name: Pepper-caramel roasted Pears with Labna
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: 250 g (9 oz, generous 1 cup) live Greek yoghurt; ¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper (see Tip); 1 cinnamon stick, broken into 3 pieces; 175 ml (6 fl oz, ¾ cup) water; 125 g (4½ oz, ⅔ cup) soft brown sugar; 90 ml (3 fl oz, ⅓ cup) Poire William or brandy; 50 g (2 oz, 4 tablespoons) unsalted butter; 4 ripe but firm Williams pears; ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

A Passion for Cheese

By Paul Gayler

Published 1997

About

The caramel offsets the sharpness of the yoghurt cheese, resulting in a simple dessert with complex flavours. This is really quite a straightforward recipe but you need to start preparations 3-4 days in advance, in order to drain the yoghurt for the labna.

Ingredients

250 g (9 oz, generous 1 cup) live Greek yoghurt
½

Dessert
Vegetarian
Gluten-free

Method

Mix the Greek yoghurt with the ground cinnamon and then drain it through muslin for 3-4 days, as described in the recipe for Labna.

Preheat the oven to 180°C, 350°F, gas 4. Put the sugar in a heavy-based saucepan and leave over a low heat unti