Poached Pears with Chantilly Cream

This Valentine's Day try out this elegant dessert for your loved one or even for yourself. It not only looks exquisite but tastes amazingly delicious too!! 

Though normally the pears are poached in Red Wine,  I altered the recipe a bit and instead poached the pears in pomegranate juice just so that the kids could enjoy it too. The effect was as striking as I got a beautiful dark red color on the peaches after they got poached. 

The melt-in-the-mouth soft peaches poached in the aromatic, velvety sauce leaves your taste buds screaming aloud for more and the best part is that they are so simple to make. These canbe prepared ahead of time and would be great to make for a big gathering.

Served with whipped cream they were delicious and I am already getting requests from my kids to make them again.

Serves 4-6        

Prep time: 15 min               Cooking time: 45 min

Ingredients

4 pears slightly under ripe

1 quart pomegranate juice (you can also use cherry or grape juice)

1 lemon cut in half

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

1 cinnamon stick

3 cloves

For the whipped cream:

1 cup heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla essence

3 tbsp. powdered sugar

Peel the pears and then cut them in half from top to bottom.

 Use a small spoon to remove the seed bail.

Add the lemon halves, lemon juice, vanilla, cinnamon and cloves and place the pot over medium heat.

 Place the pears in a medium sized pot just big enough to hold them.

 When the liquid just begins to steam, cover the pot and reduce the heat to low.

Cook for about 45 minutes and then test the pears to see if they are cooked.

They should be tender but not falling apart.

When the pears are cooked, remove them from the liquid with a slotted spoon and then set them aside.

Reduce the liquid by cooking it over medium heat until it begins to thicken just a little, about 15 minutes.

Return the pears to the liquid and allow to cool.

Finish off with a serving of Chantilly cream on top. 

For the whipped cream combine the whipped cream, powdered sugar and the vanilla in a chilled bowl. Whip on medium high speed until soft peak forms.

Serve the poached pears with the Chantilly cream or Vanilla ice cream,