These creamy poached pears will impress any dinner guests and are irresistible!

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I know, I know. This recipe has a stupid name. It’s actual name is “poached pears in a butter cream sauce” or something like that. But after I made it for some friends that came over for dinner the other week, we all kept talking about it as that French pear dessert. So there you have it.

This recipe tastes luxurious. The rich warm creaminess slides around the pears in some paradoxical combination of comfort food meets gourmet. It tastes, in short, like the kind of romantic dinner dessert you’d have on the date that ends with someone on one knee. The chef, whether you or your significant other, will bask in its loveliness even more knowing that it’s almost embarrassingly easy to make.  20 minutes and 5 ingredients? Yes please.

As a testament to just how amazing this was, I have no photos of it after I served it. It was so good we ate all of it in about 3 minutes. So the pan photos will have to do for now. Enjoy!

Start with 4 pears, peeled.

Quarter and core them, but leave in big chunks.

Melt 4 tbsp of butter in the pan. When fully melted and foam dissipates, add in pears and sugar.

Lightly brown the pears, turning so each side gets contact with the pan.

When lovely and browned, add in cream and cinnamon and mix well. When cream thickens, throw in the oven for 5 minutes to brown up everything together. Best served hot!

Unfortunately no photos of the finished product. We were too excited to dig in! But trust me, this recipe is crazy good and worthy of your next nice meal in.

From The Best Recipes in the World, by Mark Bittman.

FRENCH PEAR DESSERT

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 tbsp (1/2 stick) butter
• 4 pears (Bittman suggests Bosc)
• 1/4 c sugar
• 1/3 c heavy cream
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

STEPS:

1. Peel, quarter and core the pears. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
2. On medium heat, melt the butter in a large ovenproof skillet. When butter has fully melted and foam dissipates, add pears and sugar. Distribute the sugar as evenly as possible over the butter and pears.
3. Cook the pears, rotating periodically to get all sides.
4. When pears are softened (around 15 minutes), add the cream and cinnamon. Stir constantly for 1 minutes or until cream thickens a little.
5. Put the skillet in the oven to brown entire dish a bit, about 5 minutes. Best served hot, but also good at room temperature.