Honey-Poached Pears with Pavlova, Cardamom Cream and Rooibos Reduction
Jan
26
Written by:
1/26/2011 2:20 PM
By Malika van Reenen
ROOIBOS & HONEY-POACHED PEARS
10 Rooibos tea bags
1,5 litres water
250 ml honey
8 pears, peeled (keep stem intact)
80 g (100 ml) white sugar
PAVLOVA
4 egg whites
210 g (250 ml) castor sugar
8 ml white vinegar
10 ml corn flour
10 ml vanilla essence
CARDAMOM CREAM
250 ml fresh cream
1¼ ml ground cardamom
ROOIBOS & HONEY-POACHED PEARS
1. Place the Rooibos tea bags, water and honey in a saucepan. Bring to the boil.
2. Add the pears and bring the liquid back to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for 80 minutes or until the pears are soft, but still firm.
3. Remove the pears from the saucepan. Pour half of the poaching liquid over the pears.
4. Bring the remaining liquid back to the boil. Remove the tea bags. Add the sugar and boil until the liquid is reduced to a syrup. Set aside.
PAVLOVA
5. Preheat the oven to 130 °C. Line a baking tray with wax paper.
6. Using an electric beater, whisk the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Add the sugar gradually and beat until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is very thick and glossy.
7. Sprinkle the white vinegar, cornflour and vanilla essence onto the egg-white mixture and fold in with a plastic spatula.
8. Spoon or pipe the mixture onto the prepared baking tray, making either one large Pavlova or 8 small, individual portions.
9. Bake for 60 to 90 minutes until the meringue is cream in colour on the outside, but white on the inside with a soft, marshmallowy texture.
CARDAMOM CREAM
10. Whisk the cream and cardamom together until thickened.
SERVING
11. To serve, place one pear on a plate with a Pavlova slice or individual Pavlova portion, topped with cardamom cream, and a drizzle of the Rooibos-honey reduction.
Serves 8
These recipes and other news on Rooibos can be found at the Rooibos Ltd. website.