Roast Caramel Pears with Mascarpone
Serves 6
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
6 Bartlett pears, medium ripe
1 to 1 1/2 cups apple cider
3/4 cup mascarpone, room temperature
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 cup chestnut honey or other honey
1/3 cup pecans, toasted and chopped
Instructions
Preheat an oven to 350ºF. Spread the brown sugar on a baking sheet. Peel, halve and core the pears. Lay the pears, cut side down, on the brown sugar. The pears should fit snugly together. Bake until the pears are tender and their juices form a light caramel syrup, 35 to 40 minutes. Check the pears every 5 to 10 minutes to see if the pan is dry. If the pan gets dry, add 1/4 cup apple cider to dissolve the sugar. Turn the pears over and roast an additional 5 to 10 minutes.
Let cool 10 minutes. If the sauce is too thick, add some apple cider and over medium heat on the burner of your stove, scrape up the caramelized sugar to make a golden brown sauce. If the sauce from the pears is too thin, place in a saucepan and over medium high heat, reduce until it thickens slightly, 2 to 3 minutes. In a small bowl, stir the mascarpone, milk and honey together and reserve.
To serve, spoon some of the warm caramel sauce onto the bottom of each bowl. Place 2 pears halves on top of the caramel. Top with a spoonful of the mascarpone. Sprinkle with pecans.
