Mulled-wine poached pears with vanilla quark
60 min · 11 g protein · 201 cals / serving
Whole pears poached in alcohol-free glögg until they turn deep ruby-red and smell of cinnamon, cloves and orange, then served in a pool of the reduced, glossy spiced syrup with cold vanilla-and-cardamom kvarg and a scatter of toasted almonds. Christmas in a bowl, and it can be made two days ahead.
Ingredients
- 4 firm pears pears, peeled, stalks left on
- 1 2/3 cups saftglögg (non-alcoholic mulled cordial), alcohol-free glögg
- 1 1/4 cups water
Vanilla kvarg
- 1 2/3 cups quark
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla sugar
- 1/2 tsp cardamom, ground
To serve
- 1 1/2 tbsp almonds, flaked, toasted in a dry pan
Steps
- Put the pears upright in a saucepan just big enough to hold them. Pour over the glögg and water; add a cinnamon stick, 3 cloves and a strip of orange peel if you have them. The pears should be almost covered.
- Bring to a simmer, cover and poach gently for 20–30 minutes, turning the pears now and then, until a skewer slides in easily. Lift the pears into a bowl and boil the liquid hard, uncovered, for about 15 minutes, until it has reduced to about 2/3 cup of glossy syrup. Pour it over the pears and let them cool in it, turning once, so they colour evenly.
- Stir the kvarg with the vanilla sugar and cardamom until smooth.
- Spoon the vanilla kvarg into four bowls, stand a pear in each, pour over the spiced syrup and finish with the toasted almonds.
Good to know
Can I use regular glögg?
Yes, wine glögg gives a deeper colour and a grown-up taste. Most of the alcohol simmers off but not all of it, so keep the alcohol-free kind for children and drivers. Wine glögg carries more sugar and the score drops, to about 52 instead of 69.
Which pears work?
Firm ones that are just ripe: Conference or Concorde hold their shape best. Soft, juicy pears fall apart in the pan.
Make ahead?
Poached pears keep for 3 days in the fridge in their syrup, and the colour gets deeper every day. Serve cold, or warm the pears gently in the syrup.
Per
- Calories
- 68
- Protein
- (23%)
- 4 g
- Fat
- (11%)
- 1 g
- Carbohydrates
- (67%)
- 12 g
- of which sugar
- 10 g
- Fiber
- 2 g
- Sodium
- 13 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 804 kcal goes into the pot and 1722 g of ingredients comes out as about 1180 g of food: 68 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.