Vanilla Roasted Pears with Honey Whipped Mascarpone.
Yeah. Doesn’t that sound so fancy?! And doesn’t it look so fancy too?!
And yet, as long as you can find the mascarpone in your grocery store (I had to look in all four of my grocery store’s cheese locations before I was successful), it is a pretty simple dessert. Or breakfast. Or snack. :D
BTW, cookie scoops for the win in coring my pears! The sharp metal edge worked great, and made the perfect little divot for the whipped mascarpone to sit in later!
- 5 pears, I used D'anjou but I think most varieties would work
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 generous tsp vanilla
- 2tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp water
- 2-4 tbsp butter
- 1 cup mascarpone
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 tbsp heavy cream
- 1/3 cup chopped honey roasted almonds for topping
- Preheat the oven to 400F. Mix sugar and vanilla in small bowl. Halve and core pears and place cut side up in a large baking dish. Brush or sprinkle the pears with the lemon juice and then sprinkle vanilla sugar over them as well. Pour the water into the bottom of the pan. Dot each pear with a little pad of butter. Roast pears for 30 minutes, basting the pears with the juices in the pan every ten minutes of so. Turn pears over and continue roasting and basting until tender, approximately 30 minutes. Test the pears' doneness by inserting a paring knife in the thickest part of the fruit, it should not meet any resistance.
- While the pears are roasting, combine the mascarpone, honey, vanilla and heavy cream. Whip with mixer until peaks form, set aside in fridge until ready to use.
- When pears are done, place a spoonful of the whipped mascarpone in the divot of the cored pear and top with the chopped nuts. Serve warm!
Ta-da! See, that wasn’t so hard! A little fussy maybe because you have to baste the pears, but I think it is totally worth it!
They were a big hit last night at the ladies dinner I went to (breakfast-for-dinner potluck), and the leftovers were a big hit here for breakfast this morning too! ;)
I love when the whipped mascarpone gets a little melty over the roasted pear, and with the little crunch of nut… just YUM.
Sam
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