I watched this being made on The Great British Bake-Off and became entranced by the simple lusciousness of this dessert. Of course, none other than Paul Hollywood made a much prettier version than mine and he made the pastry from scratch but I’ve changed this recipe to store bought pastry and I think it was just yummy!
Here’s what you need:
1 sheet of store bought puff pastry, thawed and cut into ¼ inch strips
3 fresh pears
5 ¼ ounces of sugar
9 ounces of dry white wine
1 cinnamon stick
Zest of one lemon
Keep the puff pastry strips in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Peel the pears and keep the stems intack. Set aside.
Add to a deep saucepan the sugar, wine, cinnamon stick, and zest. Boil for 3 minutes and until the sugar is dissolved.
Add the whole pears to the liquid, return to boil, reduce heat to simmer and cook for about 15 minutes rolling the pears around to ensure even cooking.
Remove the pears to a sheet of parchment or a plate to cool completely.
Boil the remaining syrup for 10-15 minutes, or until it has reduced by about ½ and thickened. Set aside to cool completely.
When the pears are completely cool, use a melon baller to remove the core through the bottom of the pear.
When the pears and the syrup are completely cooled, brush the pears with syrup, covering completely. Starting at the bottom, wrap the puff pastry around each pear, like a halloween mummy costume, using more syrup as glue to hold the ends together.
Use any remaining puff pastry to cut out a leave shape and glue with syrup near the stem.
Place the pies on a pan lined with parchment paper and bake at 400 degrees about 25 minutes or until nicely browned.
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