You will need:
Start by putting the wine and sugar into a pan and bring it to a simmer. While you wait for the wine to warm peel the pears and cut the bottom off so that they will stand up when cooked. When the wine is simmering add the pears and leave for 20-30 minutes or until soft when tested with a skewer.
Remove the pears when they’re soft and then turn the heat up on the wine. Boil the wine until it has reduced to a thin syrup. Depending on the ferocity of your flame and how much evaporated while the pears were cooking this can take anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes. Bear with it though and don’t give in to impatience; pears in wine soup would I’m sure be delicious but it’s not quite what you’re after. Serve the pears with their syrup.
This is a pretty effortless pudding; you really just ignore the pears and they change from being hard and pale to soft and blushing. The colour is wonderful; as you dig your spoon into the pear the inside is almost glowing surrounded by an autumnal border. If you use normal red wine you may want to add a little extra sugar, I didn’t add very much as the Elderberry wine was already fairly sweet. The pears flavoured the syrup and the wine flavoured the pears; an easy and decadently delicious dessert.
Carole says
Those pears look wonderful – a whole bottle of wine! Such a great dish. Have a great week!
Mark Willis says
Do you remember the Eddie Izzard sketch with the pears? Hard; Hard; Hard; READY! He reckoned they were perfect for a period of only 10 minutes. Sounds about right.
Elizabeth Cowie says
I swoon over every recipe you create! Just lovely!
Mich - Piece of Cake says
I love how pretty the poached pear looks… and I am sure it is delicious in the elderberry wine.
Cass @foodmyfriend says
Yuuum. Way to make pears naughty! 😛
David Crichton says
They look perfect. It’s strange that we eat apples that are crunchy but not pears. They need to be in that “10 minute window”
Colours are amazing.
Navaneetham Krishnan says
This is my fav, in fact one of the few desserts I enjoy. It so tempting and I can’t wait to take in.
Soni says
Gorgeous looking pears!! I love poaching pears in wine and this looks very tempting 🙂
lena says
these look awesome! i see if i can get elberberry wine here, i’m so tempted to know how they taste, i only tasted poached pears in vanilla cinnamon syrup:)
Jacqueline @Howtobeagourmand says
Glorious colours and really good idea to use elderberry wine instead of red wine. It must be so fragrant.
Guru Uru says
I bet these are fragrant and delicious my friend 😀
Cheers
CCU
mylittleitaliankitchen says
These must make a wonderful dessert. Very nice coloured pears which I must bookmark. I really want to try them!
The View From The Table says
Oh they look perfect. I’ve never poached a pear, looks like I might just be missing out!
Jenn Kendall says
oh my gosh, i am in love with this – now i just need to track down some elderberry wine!
Emma @ Food, Fork and Good says
I love Lyme bay! Whenever I was in weymouth, I would stock up! This is a truly fantastic recipe. Yum.
The Squishy Monster says
Their ruby color makes me so happy and what a festive dish for Autumn =)
Shu Han says
yum i love poached pears, they’re so wonderfully sweet and soft and this looks especially gorgeous with that deep luscious red.
rita cooks italian says
I also let my pears ripe. I do not like crunchy pears, my pears have to be soft and jucy and my bananas almost black… I love the colour of these poached pears; it’s a simple dessert but full of flavours. The wine works very well with pears.
Denise says
These look wonderful! I usually poach pears in a white wine because moscato is a sweet wine that happens to be white, but the beautiful contrast with red makes me very happy to find a new red wine. I don’t know if I can find elderberry but I can use your hint of adding extra sugar. Lovely
Rebecca Subbiah says
this looks wonderful I really must try poaching pears
grace says
poached pears are so lovely! the way they soak up that color and flavor is no small piece of magic. 🙂