Pears Poached in White Wine

Pears cooked in a sweet white wine with cinnamon and vanilla. A nice light dessert! This is adapted from about.com (http://frenchfood.about.com/od/desserts/r/poachpearswht.htm)

• Ready In: 35 mins
• Serves: 8
• Yields: 8 servingxs

Ingredients

• 2  cups  sweet white wine (we use moscato)
• 3 1⁄2 cups water
• 1  cinnamon stick
• 1  teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1  teaspoon lemon juice
• 4  pears
• 2  cups sugar

Directions

1. In a pot, combine all ingredients except the pears. Bring to the boil.
2. While the liquid is boiling, peel the pears and cut them in half from top to bottom.
3. Use a paring knife to core the pears.
4. When liquid is boiling, add pears, return to boiling, then simmer until tender but not mushy. This will depend on the pears you choose and how ripe they are. Start with about 5-8 minutes, but be aware that it may take much longer (when I use bosc pears that aren't quite ripe yet it can take half an hour or more).
5. Remove the pears, increase the heat, and reduce the liquid by half.
6. Spoon the reduced liquid over the pears and top with homemade whipped cream (use recipe # 80157).