Poached Pears
Pears are difficult to choose at the store- too hard and they won’t be ripe/sweet enough; too soft and they could be bruised and taste funny.
Poaching pears is the perfect solution because this process causes them to become softened (so try to choose pears that are slightly more unripe than ripe.
When you add flavors like bourbon, cinnamon, and sugar, these all diffuse into the pear to impart a unique flavor while also retaining the delicious underlying pear flavor.
In this recipe, we used bourbon, cinnamon and sugar to poach the pears. However, feel free to customize your poaching solution. You can also throw in ginger, star anise, cardamom,
We used the poached pears two ways in this recipe:
- First, we cut some of them into small cubes and mixed them into the batter
- Then, we sliced the rest and layered them on top of the batter, allowing them to caramelize in the oven and also be the prominent topping of this gingerbread cake
Different Types of Pears
In this recipe, we used Bosc pear, which is closer to an apple than other types of pears. However, feel free to try out other varieties for poaching. Bartlett pears are slightly sweeter. Asian pears would be more delicate but also delicious. Let us know in the comments below your favorite type of pear!
Gingerbread Cake
Naturally, gingerbread is one of our favorite snacks during the holiday season. Gingerbread can be turned into cookies, bread, or cake, as in this recipe. Here, we used both freshly grated as well as ground ginger to really impart that flavor.
For sweetening, in addition to the poached pears, we used brown sugar and molasses to give it a rich, dark taste. The texture and light flavor of the pears cuts through the richness of the gingerbread itself.
Other Holiday Recipes
If you’ve stumbled onto this page while looking for recipes for Christmas, Thanksgiving, or other Fall/Winter holidays, be sure to check out some of our other festive GradFood holiday recipes below:
Bourbon Poached Pear Gingerbread Cake
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 2.5 cups flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2.5 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp cloves
- 1 tsp allspice
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp salt
- Powdered sugar to dust at the end
Wet Ingredients
- ½ cup butter room temperature
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp freshly grated ginger
- 2 eggs
- 3 tbsp bourbon
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¾ cup molasses
Poached Pears
- 3 bosc pears
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp bourbon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Bring a pot of 4 cups water to boil and turn down to a simmer. Stir in the sugar and add the bourbon and cinnamon sticks. Peel the pears, cut in half length-wise, remove the seed area with a spoon, and place them in the pot. Let them simmer, flipping occasionally, for ~20 minutes before removing a setting aside to cool and dry.
- Mix the dry ingredients together in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another bowl. Slowly fold the dry ingredients into the wet ones until combined.
- Cut 3 of the half-pears into cubes and carefully mix them into the batter. Pour the batter into a greased springform pan (or a standard cake pan if you don’t have a springform). With the remaining 3 half-pears, cut them into slices and arrange them on top of the batter.
- Cook in oven for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Place on a cooling rack to let cool and then top with a dusting of powdered sugar.
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