Baked Pears with Cranberries

I was in New York for thanksgiving and got very excited with all the varieties of pears and fresh cranberries!
This was my dessert for my thanksgiving lunch. But instead of fresh cranberries, this recipe uses dried cranberries. One good thing about that is their sour taste is covered by the apple juice concentrate. Fresh cranberries certainly need a lot of sugar. Choose pears that are not too ripe, as they will not hold their shape when baked if too soft. You will need to soak the cranberries first for 3 hours.

  • 4 Packham pears (peeled and halved)
  • 1 c Organic Dried Cranberries
  • 1 1⁄2 c Organic Organge Juice
  • 1 tbsp Mixed Spices. Include clove, cinnamon, nutmeg
  • 1⁄2 t Organic fresh ginger, chopped
  • Maple syrup or Honey (optional)

Soak your cranberries in orange juice.  The soaking will bring the cranberries back to life a little, making them soft and plump.  Try to soak for the recommended 3 hours, and in their last 10 minutes of soaking, put them on the stove at a med to low temperature. 
Add the spices and ginger. test taste the liquid.  If you would like it more sweet, add a dash of maple syrup or more spice if you want it spicier.
Pre heat your oven to a medium heat (180 degrees)
Keep your pears halved, scoop out the centre seeds.
Place the pears in a ceramic baking tray (not metal) and place cranberries into the scooped out parts of the pears.
Bake covered for 40 minutes (or lower the heat and cook for 1 hour)
Take cover off until liquid has mostly disappeared.

Yield
4
Source

Thanks to Kellie!

Prep Time
20 minutes

Notes

If you are lucky and using fresh cranberries, you will need to pre cook rather than soak your cranberries. The cooking does not take long. The skin splits when they are ready. This splitting is amazing to watch as the berries release their brilliant colour into the water. Any ideas about how bad sugar is have to be momentarily forgotten as they need a lot to be palatable.