Pears in a rich caramel-honey sauce

Fresh pears with a rich caramel-honey sauce - a lovely dessert recipe, very quick and easy to make at any time of the year.

You will need:-
One pear per person - use firm, ripe, pears. Comice are good.

For each pear:-

• 1 oz butter
• 1 tbsp. honey
• Sprinkle of ground cinnamon

A dash of lemon juice in a bowl of cold water.
Ovenproof dish - I use a little cast iron frying pan that also looks okay as a serving dish.
Oven - 375F; 190C; Gas 5

Method:-

• Peel, halve and core the pear (use a melon baller), place the halves in the bowl of lemon juice to stop them going brown.
• Grease the cooking dish and smear the cut surface of the pear with butter
• Place the pear halves, cut and buttered side down, onto the dish. Heat briefly on the hob to start melting the butter.
• Pour honey over the top of the pears, and sprinkle with a little ground cinnamon.
• Place on middle oven shelf and cook for about 40 minutes. Half way through, or as often as you like, baste the upper surface of the pears with the honey and butter mixture.
• When cooked remove the dish from the oven and leave to cool for at least 5 minutes before serving because the caramel will be too hot to eat. 

Serve with custard, double cream or ice cream.

Tip:-
During cooking the pears will soften, pear juice will mix with the honey and butter and form a delicious caramel sauce. If the sauce is too runny, heat through on the stovetop for a little while to thicken - but don't overdo it or you'll end up with pear-flavoured toffee. Take the pears out first, otherwise they'll melt.

~'.'~