Pears poached in red wine

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• ¾ liter red wine (Burgundy)
• 30 pieces of sugar (sugar cubes)
• 1 tbsp vanilla sugar
• 8 small pears (about 1 kilo)
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tbsp crème fraîche

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 2 hours; Total time approx. 2 hours 30 minutes

Red wine with pears

Place the wine, sugar, and vanilla sugar in a stainless steel or enamel pot and simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, thinly peel the pears. Leave them whole, leaving the stems intact. Add them to the wine and cook uncovered over very low heat for about 15 minutes. Check with a sharp knife whether the pears are soft. Remove the pears from the cooking liquid with a slotted spoon and arrange, stems facing up, in a shallow compote dish. Whisk the cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of the cooking liquid in a bowl. Return to the pot. Add the crème fraîche. Stir and bring to a boil for about 2 minutes. Pour the sauce over the pears. Let the dessert chill thoroughly in the refrigerator for at least 2-3 hours, pouring the sauce over the pears occasionally. Very important: there are different types of pears. For this recipe, I always use the small, pre-packaged ones and let them sit for about a week, so I can at least be sure they’re soft enough. However, there are also extra-hard pears that soften quickly when cooked; just ask at the market which variety is best.