Red Wine Poached Pear Sorbet with Star Anise, Cinnamon and Black Peppercorn

I think I need a vacation to recover from my vacation.  I've been running all week to get my daughter ready for back to school which started today, you can't see it but; I'm busy doing the Electric Slide as we speak.  Her birthday is this weekend and the girls and me were doing some cake experiments so we could nail down the menu.  We made a White Cake with Chocolate Buttercream and Chocolate Mousse and Grand Marnier filling.  It was light and decadent, yet I couldn't help but think it needed a little something.

As you can see by the missing cake, it was well received around here.  We just may have to make one more before we make our final decision.

I had these gorgeous red Bartlett pears from the farm stand and I didn't want these pears to feel unloved and unworthy of all the attention I have been lavishing on my other farm stand finds.  I decide they needed a recipe that was worthy of their beauty.

These were special pears and they needed a recipe that was as splendid as they were.  So after a little thought; this is how those pretty pears met their demise.

Red Wine Poached Pear Sorbet with Star Anise, Cinnamon and Black Peppercorns

4 red Bartlett Pears

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups red wine (I used Merlot)

2 whole star anise

1 cinnamon stick

3 whole black peppercorns

Peel and cut the four pears into 1" cubes and place them into a large saucepan.  Add the sugar, red wine, star anise, cinnamon stick and peppercorns.  I added the spices loose, but you could put them in a piece of cheesecloth that is tied up for easy removal.  Turn the heat on to medium high and let the mixture come up to a boil, then turn down to a low simmer.  

I let the pears simmer for about 30 minutes, till they were fork tender, turned the heat off and let them cool completely.  I fished out the spices and put the mixture into a food processor. Pulse until finely pureed, if you have any large pieces, force through a sieve.

Then put the mixture into the frozen canister of an ice cream maker and mix for 25 minutes.  Put in a freezer safe container and keep frozen.  

It was the perfect companion for the cake, the wine really infused into the pears and the spice is there but not overwhelming.  I could have eaten the whole container of sorbet myself, but I exercised just a smidge of restraint, after all I needed room for the cake.

Hope you are enjoying the summer; mine seems to be going by way too quickly.

Enjoy,

Gina