With fall and winter comes ripe, sweet pears in season. I grew up getting boxes of perfectly green or brown pears from my great Aunt Edna arriving for Christmastime. Many of these pears actually come from the Medford, Oregon area where Harry & David’s headquarters are located and where I’m excited to be moving in a couple months full-time. I found this recipe in a new eCookbook I bought online because the mediterranean diet is being touted as the way to go. With recipes like this one, I’ll be easily swayed to agree.

Besides eating the pears as perfectly as they are straight from nature, there are many tarts, pastries, and other desserts that they can be used in. This recipe was especially enjoyable because while using a cookie cutter shape is always fun! The recipe calls for a basic round ring but I added a little pizazz with a star shape.

My advice would be to let the nut mixture cool a little bit so that it isn’t as runny. This would help the consistency when you remove the shape. I was extremely surprised at how the toffee sauce actually tasted like buttery, sweet toffee! I couldn’t believe I made it myself and with so few ingredients. It was really delicious. Perhaps serving it in a gravy boat type server on the side would be helpful because the dessert is very pretty as just the shape without the sauce.

Pears in Toffee Sauce

Recipe from: Healthy Mediterranean Gourmet by Dalia Avissar and Shelby Inbar (click link to view cookbook on Amazon.com)

Serves: 2

Ingredients

Pears

• 3 pears
• 1 tsp. butter
• Pinch of cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp. Demerara sugar
• 2-3 saffron threads, soaked in 1 tsp. water
• Zest of 1 orange, finely grated
• 2 tsp. orange liqueur (Cointreau or Drambuie)

Nuts

• 2 oz. walnuts, coarsely ground
• 3 Tbsp. Demerara sugar
• 2 Tbsp. milk

Toffee Sauce

• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 cup whipping cream

Directions:

To Prepare the Pears:

1. Peel the pears and cut into small cubes. Transfer to a medium saucepan, add the butter and cook for 2-3 minutes over medium heat.

2. Add the cinnamon, vanilla, sugar, saffron and orange zest, stir and continue cooking for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the liqueur, mix and set aside.

To Prepare the Nuts:

Place the nuts, sugar and milk in a small saucepan, and cook over low heat while stirring, until the mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

To Prepare the Sauce:

Heat the sugar, in a small saucepan, stirring occasionally until a light caramel forms. Add the cream gradually while stirring, and continue cooking until thick. Remove from the heat and set aside.

To Serve:

1. Place a 3-inch ring-shape on a serving plate and fill it two-thirds with the cooked pears (the cooking liquid will run onto the plate.

2. Press a thin layer of nuts over the pears. Remove the ring carefully and continue with the other plate. Heat the sauce slightly, pour 1-2 tablespoons over each portion, and serve.