Versatile, Voluptuous, Vanilla…and that’s just the bed of
pound cake. Next, I marinate fresh slices of ripe pears in Moscato wine, reduce the mixture
to a syrup, layer it over soft buttery slices of pound cake, and top with a
scoop of homemade whipped cream that's also been infused with the wine :)
Moscato wine and pears are a delicious pairing. But which variety would perform best in this dish? There are so many to choose from, depending on the time of year and your location on the globe. So I did a taste test on 6 types of pears.
Check out which one ruled for this recipe!
Asian - Transparent flesh. Watery and not a lot of flavor. Somewhat coarse texture.
Bosc - Good balance of tangy and sweet. Dense and firm with a nutty flavor. Nice snap if you don't let it get too ripe.
Concord - Creamy, syrupy sweet, smooth all the way through like Moscato wine.
Bartlett Red - Sweet and juicy but sharp after taste.
Comice - Semi firm, sweet and creamy. Vanilla flavor but rather single dimensional over all. If these are too ripe they can emit too much liquid for some recipes. Best to cook with them when they are slightly under-ripe.
Green Anjou - Earthy, almost grassy but sweet and juicy.
I prefer pears on the firmer side. When they get too ripe they become mushy and remind me of canned pears, which I do not like. They usually need 2 to 3 days to ripen when purchased at the store.
From this list I found Bartlett and Bosc pears to be the best to bake with because they have a sturdy enough texture to withstand the cooking process. The Asian was too bland and the Anjou too earthy for me. I liked the vanilla notes in the Comice and the creaminess in the Concord, though it was a bit on the super sweet side.
Do your own comparison and see how the different varieties strike your palate.
My pound cake recipe is in this post
Ingredients For Pear Topping
2 Bartlett or Bosc pears, sliced (you could also use 1 of each)
1 cup Moscato wine (I used Crane Lake)
1 tablespoon butter
Ingredients For Homemade Whipped Cream
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 tablespoon powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon reduced Moscato wine and pear syrup
Directions For Pear Topping
Marinate sliced pears in wine for 2 to 3 hours. Drain and add wine to a saucepan. Simmer over low heat until reduced by half, approximately 10 minutes. Allow to cool because you're going to add a tablespoon into your whipped cream.
After you make your whipped cream saute the pears in butter until tender and slightly caramelized.
Spoon over slices of pound cake. Drizzle with syrup and top with a big helping of whipped cream!
Directions For Whipped Cream
Beat heavy cream until soft peaks form. Add in sugar. Combine. Then add vanilla and Moscato syrup. Beat just enough to blend. Refrigerate while you saute your pears.
Aahh, the end of our photo session.....the cake's had it! I had taken the last picture and in slow motion the tower of lusciousness just keeled over =] Still tasted amazing!
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