I LOVE pears! I love them raw, in salads, on a cheeseboard and don't even get me started on pear sorbet!! One of my favourite things to do with pears is poach them with lots of lovely spices and orange peel. I will often prepare these poached pears for breakfast and pair them up with my ‘Super Seed Granola’. I also love them for dessert served with this salted caramel and natural yoghurt.
This salted caramel sauce recipe is so versatile. It can be used in a variety of dishes, from these spiced poached pears, on ice-cream and inside cakes. The possibilities are endless! When making the caramel I often swap out the cream for natural greek yoghurt as it gives the caramel a lovely tartness.
This dish is a combination of two very simple recipes, but the combo is seriously heaven.
I have also just posted a Vegan Coconut Salted Caramel recipe if you’re after a healthier alternative. It is AMAZING!!
Ingredients
VEG, GF 
1 hr 45 mins 
10 Pears
- 8 - 10 brown beurré bosc pears (you can use any pears I just find these keep their shape & texture well once cooked)
- 8 cups boiling water (or enough to just cover the pears)
- 3 cinnamon sticks
- 2 tbs ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp cloves
- Fresh orange rind (about 4-6 strips using a vegetable peeler)
- ¼ cup rice malt syrup or honey
- 2-3 star anise (if you’re not a fan of the flavour you can leave the star anise out. I like the flavour for breakfast but I would leave it out for dessert pears)
Salted Caramel
- 200g butter
- 2½ cups brown sugar, firmly packed
- 500ml cream ( you could also use greek yoghurt)
- 2 tsp sea salt
Method
Pears
- Pour boiling water into a large pot. (It is better if the pot is wider than deeper)
- Add the cinnamon sticks, star anise (leave out for the dessert pears), ground cinnamon, rice malt syrup or honey and orange rind into the boiling water.
- Peel the pears and pop them in the pot. I like to leave some whole and cut some in half, then use a melon baller to take out the core of the halved pears.
- Bring the pears back up to a simmer. At this point, if you stir the spiced water, you might find it is a bit slimey... dont freak out, it sometimes does this. If it is worrying you, add some extra boiling water and it should thin out.
- Now leave the pears to simmer for 1½ - 2 hours with the lid on, but tilted. I often like to leave the pears in the pot overnight to soak in all the lovely spices. If you are storing the pears, store them in a container in the fridge with some of the juices.
Salted Caramel
- Add the butter, brown sugar and cream (or yoghurt if using) into a medium sized saucepan.
- Stir until the butter melts and all ingredients are incorporated.
- Bring to the boil and simmer for about 15-20 minutes* or until the caramel coats the back of the spoon.
- Take the caramel off the heat and stir the salt through.
- Lastly, pour the caramel over the poached pears and serve with natural yoghurt.
* If you’re using greek yoghurt in place of the cream the caramel should only take about 5-10 minutes to thicken up.
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