I have a friend who has a pear tree. And every year around this time I go to his place and collect a many pears as I can. I do this because every years I make pear schnapps. It’s become a tradition in our family. This time around, as opposed to last year, the tree was fruitful, and we got a lot of leftover pears.  So, apart from pear schnapps, what can I do with these things? The most obvious was create some sort of dessert. And that is the recipe given today, Sherry Baked Pears. Now, keep in mind these are wild pears falling from the tree. Once they hit the ground, they were fairly ripe.  If you try the recipe with store bought pears or those from a farm stand, just make sure they’re ripened.

I make the pears with a combination of sherry, lemon and honey. It makes a delicious sugarless dessert that can be served warm by itself, with whipped cream, or spooned over plain vanilla ice cream.

SHERRY BAKED PEARS

Ingredients.:

1/3 cup water
1/4  cup honey
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons butter
6-8 ripe pears, depending upon size (enough to make 4 cups)

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. In a saucepan, combine sherry, water, honey, lemon juice and butter. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
  3.  Wash, core and split pears into halves or quarters. Again, should have enough for 4 cups. Lay pears on a greased baking pan or dish and bake for 1 hour.
    Yield: 4 or more servings.