Honey and Spice Poached Pears

These delicious honey and spice poached pears are sweetened with honey and flavored with warm spices. This deceptively easy recipe is gluten free and refined sugar free, and it can easily be made vegan! Plus it's made without wine, so it's kid-friendly. And for more pear recipes, try a pear galette or stewed pears.

Honey poached pears are perfect for breakfast in bed or a romantic date night. Serve them over oatmeal or pancakes for breakfast, or with a bowl of vanilla ice cream for dessert!

I first made these pears for Valentine's Day, which is a notoriously overrated "holiday". But I like to see it as a not-so-subtle reminder towards the beginning of the year to carve out time for love.

The best part about this dish is while it looks and sounds fancy, it's actually incredibly simple! Next time you're looking to create an impressive dessert or breakfast, try these easy poached pears in honey. Or try German baked apples with raisins called Bratapfel.

In this Post

• What are Poached Pears?
• Ingredients
• How to Make Honey and Spice Poached Pears
• Recipe Tips
• Tips to Poaching Pears with Honey
• Raw versus Pasteurized Honey
• More Apple and Pear Recipes

What are Poached Pears?

Poaching is a delicate method of cooking food in low-heated water. When you poach pears, they hold their shape and maintain some of their crunchy texture. But they soften just enough so that each bite is fruity, floral and sensuously soft.

The liquid you poach the pears in can be infused with an array of spices and sweeteners. I love the way honey adds sticky-sweetness to the pears, almost like they become candy.

Herbs and spices like cardamom, star anise, ginger, and cinnamon add layers of rich aromas and flavors. Everything melds together in a sweet, floral, comforting concoction.

Ingredients

• Pears - use ripe, firm Bosc pears for the best flavor and texture
• Water - serves as the cooking liquid
• Honey - you can substitute granulated sugar or maple syrup to make this recipe vegan
• Fresh ginger - use a spoon to easily peel fresh ginger
• Star anise - this is optional, since it can sometimes be hard to find; it adds a black licorice flavor
• Cinnamon - either use ground cinnamon or a whole cinnamon stick to add a warm flavor
• Cardamom - either use ground cardamom or whole cardamom pods to add an herbal warm flavor
• Toppings - optional toppings include syrup or honey for drizzling, chopped nuts, and yogurt

How to Make Honey and Spice Poached Pears

These are the general steps to poach pears with honey and spices. For the full step-by-step instructions, scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

1. Prepare the pears: Peel the pears. Keep the stems on them and slice a small bit off the bottom so they can stand up straight. Set aside.
2. Prepare the water: Pour the water into a large pot and add the honey and spices. Bring the water to about 160°F. The water should be steaming but not bubbling.
3. Poach the pears: Place the pears into the water on their sides and let them poach for 15 minutes. The water will only reach about halfway up the pears.
   Gently flip each pear over and poach the other side for another 15 minutes.
   Use a slotted spoon to gently remove the pears from the liquid and allow to cool while standing upright on a plate.
4. Reduce the syrup: Bring the remaining poaching liquid to a simmer until it's reduced to half its volume to create a syrup to drizzle on the pears.

Recipe Tips and Variations

• Firm Pears: Use ripe, firm pears since they're sweeter and they'll soften but still hold their shape as they cook. Mushy pears could turn into a pear-sauce situation.
• Flat Base: Slice just the bottom off each pear so you can stand them up straight on a flat base.
• Careful Handling: Leaving the stem on is optional, but it gives the pears a fancy appearance. Don't pick up the pears by the stem after they're poached though, since the stem could rip out of the soft fruit.
• Slotted Spoon: Gently handle the pears after they're poached, since they'll be soft and easy to puncture. Use a slotted spoon to transfer them out of the pot and onto a plate.
• Don't Boil: Don't let the water bubble or boil. Poaching is a soft method of cooking. This allows the pears to maintain their shape without getting mushy.
• Apple Juice: You can substitute apple juice or apple cider for the water for sweeter pears.
• Vegan: You can substitute maple syrup or granulated sugar for the honey to make this recipe vegan.

Tips to Poaching Pears with Honey

It's important to note that poaching food usually brings the water up to 160°F to 180°F. This is different from simmering, which brings the water up to 185°F to 200°F. Both are softer forms of cooking than boiling, which occurs in water at 212°F.

You can use a kitchen thermometer to measure the temperature of your water, to make sure you're poaching your pears instead of simmering or boiling them. I usually keep an eye on the appearance of the water, which should be steaming but not bubbling.

If the pears are cooked in water that's too hot, they'll become mushy, like the pear version of applesauce.

And when poaching with honey, it's all the more critical to make sure your water doesn't simmer or boil. Honey degrades if it's heated higher than 160°F, so we want to keep the liquid at the lowest end of the poaching temperature range.

Honey doesn't become toxic to humans after its heated; it just starts to lose its antibacterial and antioxidant benefits.

Raw versus Pasteurized Honey

Pasteurized (non-raw) Honey

Pasteurized honey has been heated to 160°F to kill any potential bacteria. But that also means it's likely been depleted of many of its health benefits.

Raw Honey

Raw honey is not processed or packaged with added heat. This means raw honey maintains many of its health benefits including antibacterial properties, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

Poaching with Raw Honey

If keeping all the health benefits of raw honey is important to you, then you might consider poaching your pears in a different sweetener. There's a chance that some of the beneficial properties of raw honey are lost during the poaching process.

Alternatives

Maple syrup and granulated sugar are two alternatives. And you can always save your honey and drizzle it on top of the poached pears.

More Breakfast Recipes

Looking for more delicious and easy breakfast recipes? Try these!