Pears in Puff Pastry

Happy New Year!  Let’s hope this one’s a bit easier than the last…

Last night we made one of my favorite party meals – cheese fondue (the traditional kind, with Gruyere & Emmentaler in white wine).  Then to top off the evening, I made an old standby dessert: Pears in Puff Pastry with Caramel Sauce.

I first had this dish at a restaurant outside State College when I was in business school – I don’t even remember the name of the place, but I managed to recreate the dessert.  It’s fantastically decadent and pretty easy to prepare.  Last night I used a couple of perfectly ripe Comice pears, which were perfect, but pretty much any of the softer varieties of pear would work well.

For the Pears:

• 2 ripe pears, cored and peeled
• 2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons Grand Marnier
• Ready to roll puff pastry (make sure it’s the all butter kind, not the margarine kind!)
• 1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 400 f.

Mix together the butter, sugar, and Grand Marnier in a small bowl – you can just mash it all together with the back of a fork.  Peel and core your pears, set aside.  Roll out your puff pastry into two squares, about 8 inches on a side.  Place one pear in the center of each square of puff pastry, then stuff the core of each with half of the butter and sugar mixture.  Fold the puff pastry up and over the top of the pears, pressing together to seal it up into a big dumpling. Make sure you seal the pastry up well – when I made these last night, the pastry came apart at the seams and fell down into a nest around the pears.  They still tasted great, but they weren’t quite as elegant as usual.

Place the pears in a baking dish, then brush the outside of the pastry with the beaten egg.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown.

While the pears are baking, make your caramel sauce:

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Pour the sugar and water into a small heavy saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat to medium and simmer until the mixture turns a medium caramel color (6-8 minutes) – do not stir - swirl the syrup gently to mix.  Pour the cream in slowly – it will bubble up, so be very careful.  Cook for another minute or two over low heat, stirring constantly, then allow to cool to serving temperature.  You can also make the sauce ahead of time, then warm gently before serving.

If you don’t feel like making the caramel sauce, you can buy it in a jar and heat it up gently before serving.  Just make sure to get real caramel sauce, not caramel topping.