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A red wine poached pear with a slice through it to show the contrasting fruit on the inside.

Red Wine Poached Pears with Chocolate Ganache

Red wine poached pears with chocolate ganache makes an elegant dessert that is as impressive as it is delicious! This is a fancy dessert that is simple to prepare in advance.
4.84 from 6 votes
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Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 4 Servings
Calories: 138kcal
Author: Pat Nyswonger

Ingredients

For the Pears:

  • 1 bottle dry red wine
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 large orange juiced
  • Orange zest strip 4-inches long
  • 2 cinnamon stick
  • Star anice
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 4 firm ripe Bosc pears

For the Ganache:

  • 4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream

Instructions

For the Poached Pears:

  • In a 6-quart Dutch oven or similar size saucepan, add the wine, sugar, orange juice, zest, spices and vanilla.  Bring to a simmer on medium-low heat, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar.
  • Peel the pears and place them into the simmering poaching liquid.  Keep the heat on medium-low with the pears simmering gently for 20 minutes.  Rotate the pears every 5 minutes so they will poach evenly.  Use a rubber or silicon spatula to rotate the pears as a metal spoon will scratch and mar  the surface of the pears.  
  • Remove the Dutch oven/saucepan from the heat and allow the pears to cool to room temperature in the poaching liquid.  
  • Transfer the pears to a large dish, standing upright, drape with a piece of plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve. 

For the Chocolate Ganache:

  • Place the chopped chocolate in a small bowl.   Heat the cream in a small saucepan, just until small bubbles are visible along the inside edge of the pan, do not allow the cream to boil.
  • Pour the hot cream over the chocolate, cover and allow to sit for 3-5 minutes.  Stir with a spoon or spatula until the chocolate is smooth.  

To serve:

  • Spoon a puddle of several tablespoons of chocolate ganache into each of four shallow bowls and place a poached pear in the chocolate.  

Notes

  • Select a saucepan that will comfortably hold the pears when they are submerged on their sides.
  • Any variety of spices can be substituted such as cardamon pods, cloves.  
  • Peeled pears oxidize quickly and it is best to prepare the poaching liquid and have it simmering before peeling the pears.  If it necessary to peel the pears a few minutes in advance you can hold them, submerged in cold water that has a lemon squeeze into it.
  • To remove the ridges on the pears left from the peeling process, use a clean kitchen sponge, example…Scotch Brite Dobie pad and gently rub the pear while holding it under cold water.  It works like an eraser to smooth the pear surface.  
  • Slicing a thin sliver with the peeler, from the bottom of the pears will help the pears stand upright in the dish.
  • Choose a good quality chocolate for the ganache.  We do not recommend the chocolate chips intended for cookies as they have stabilizers included. 
  • Do not allow the cream to boil as it may cause the ganache to separate and become oily.
Nutrition is calculated without the chocolate ganache sauce. If the chocolate sauce is included, it will have 378 calories per serving.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 | Calories: 138kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 0.2g | Sodium: 6mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 24g