Ingredients
6 pears
peeled and sliced
60g butter
1 cup caster sugar
or brown sugar
Equipment
- 1 heavy frying pan
Instructions
- In a heavy frying pan, heat the butter over a medium heat until bubbling and add the pears. Sauté until lightly golden and add the sugar.
- Stir constantly until the sugar caramelises and the pears are soft.
Notes
Tip
If you are going to use these for a pie, you can thicken the caramel by adding 1 tablespoon of cornflour into ½ cup cold apple juice and stir into the caramelised pears while in the pan. Bring this to the boil and simmer until the sauce is thick and glossy in appearance.
Tip
For a delicious variation, you can stir the scrapings from a vanilla pod into the caramel.
Tip
For a quick dessert, you can fill warmed ready-made pastry shells with these pears and top with a dollop of double cream.
Tip
To make spicy pears, you can add some ½ tsp of cinnamon and ½ tsp of nutmeg.
Tip
Dark brown sugar will give you a very deep brown caramel with burnished flavours, while caster sugar gives you a glossy clear caramel.
Tip
If you store the leftover pears in the fridge, the carmel changes to a solid mass and returns to a glossy liquid when heated.
