This poached ice tea pears recipe makes a wonderfully cool dessert for those hot summer days. After all, what’s more refreshing than ice tea?

Our elegant dessert is sure to turn some heads at the dinner table. Poaching pears is easy so don’t worry if you’ve never done it before.

Recipe Development & Photos by: Williams-Raines

Yield: 2-4 servings

Ingredients

4 1/2 cups water
4 tea bags (English Breakfast or other black tea)
1/4 cup sugar
2 firm pears (i.e. Bartlett pears)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Garnishes (i.e. mint, lemon slices, berries, etc.)
Cream or vanilla ice cream

Iced Tea Pears

Instructions

1. Put the water in a medium pot, cover, and bring to the boil.
2. Turn off the heat and add the tea bags and sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
3. Cover and let steep for 10 minutes.
4. While the tea is steeping, peel the pears, cut them in half, and core them using a melon baller or teaspoon.
5. Remove the tea bags and bring the liquid to a simmer, then reduce the heat a bit. You want the poaching liquid to be just below simmering; there should be some steam but no bubbles.
6. Gently add the pears, making sure that each pear half is fully submerged.
7. Poach until the pears are tender all the way through, about 25-35 minutes. Test for doneness by piercing the thickest part of the pear with a sharp paring knife. Cooking time will ultimately depend on the size of the fruit.
8. Once the pears are cooked, use a slotted spoon to remove them from the poaching liquid and set them aside to cool. Once cool, cover the pears and place them in the fridge to chill completely, at least 1 hour.
9. Bring the poaching liquid to a boil and cook until the liquid has reduced to a syrup. Timing for this can vary greatly, so check on the liquid every 5 minutes or so.
10. When the syrup has started to thicken, stir in the lemon juice and cook for another 5 minutes or so. Syrup is ready when the liquid has thickened and reduced in volume by 2 or 3 times. Note that the liquid will thicken even more once cooled so don’t worry if it looks a little runny at first.
11. Set syrup aside to cool, then place in the fridge to chill. It may take a few hours for the syrup to chill completely.
12. Serve the chilled pears with your choice of garnish, cream or vanilla ice cream, and drizzle with the syrup.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email