Best Pear Wine Recipes

SPICED RED WINE-POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• In a 4-quart saucepan, combine wine, sugar, orange juice, zest, cinnamon stick and cloves. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. While liquid is simmering, peel pears, leaving stem intact and being careful not to blemish the flesh of the pears. Slice 1/2-inch off the bottom of the pears to create a flat bottom. Gently place pears in poaching liquid, cover, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, turning every 5 minutes to ensure even color, until pears are cooked but still firm. Remove saucepan from flame, uncover and cool with pears upright in pan. Once cool, cover and chill in refrigerator at least 3 hours or up to 24 hours, turning occasionally, if desired. Gently remove pears from liquid and allow to come to room temperature. Meanwhile, reduce liquid by about half over a medium-high flame for 15 minutes, until liquid is thicker and slightly syrupy. Remove from flame and let liquid come to room temperature. Drizzle each pear with 2 tablespoons syrup and serve.

PEARS IN RED WINE

Steps:

• Put sugar, wine, water, cinnamon, cloves and lemon rind in a large saucepan and heat gently until the sugar dissolves.
• Peel the pears leaving the stalks on.
• Cut off the core at the base. You are only cutting a small amount (5mm) to help the pears stand upright.
• Add pears to the saucepan.
• Cover and simmer gently for 20 - 25 minutes or until the pears are soft and coloured by the wine. (You can weight the pears down by an upside down cereal bowl to help them get coloured).
• Remove the pears carefully from the saucepan with a slotted spoon and place standing upright in a heatproof bowl or dish (I use a plastic Tupperware dish with a lid so that it can be put in the fridge later).
• Increase the heat and boil the liquid in the saucepan rapidly until the liquid reduces and it thick and syrupy. This can take between 10 and 20 minutes dependent on the quantity of liquid.
• Take the saucepan off the heat and allow to cool slightly. (Careful the sugary liquid is very hot).
• Strain the liquid to remove lemon rind and cloves and pour over the pears. (I hold a sieve over the pears to do this).
• When the pears and the syrup are quite cold chill in the fridge for several hours or overnight. Spoon the syrup over them from time to time this helps to give them more colour. (Again I weight them down with an upside down cereal bowl).

POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• Peel the pears, and place in medium saucepan. Add wine, sugar, vanilla bean, cinnamon stick, orange peel, lemon peel, cloves, star anise, bay leaf, and just enough water to cover pears.
• Set saucepan over high heat, and bring liquid to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, and cook, occasionally stirring gently, over medium-low heat, until a paring knife easily pierces pears, about 15 minutes. Remove pan from heat; let pears cool in liquid.
• Using a slotted spoon, transfer pears to a plate. Pour poaching liquid through a sieve set over a bowl. Discard solids, and return liquid to saucepan. Place over medium-high heat, and cook until liquid has been reduced to a syrup that coats the back of a wooden spoon, about 45 minutes. Let cool; store pears in an airtight container until ready to serve.
• When ready to serve, arrange pears on a platter or on individual plates, and drizzle poaching liquid over them.

HOMEMADE WINE

Steps:

• Combine the yeast, sugar and juice concentrate in a gallon jug. Fill the jug the rest of the way with cold water. Rinse out a large balloon, and fit it over the opening of the jug. Secure the balloon with a rubber band.
• Place jug in a cool dark place. Within a day you will notice the balloon starting to expand. As the sugar turns to alcohol the gasses released will fill up the balloon. When the balloon is deflated back to size the wine is ready to drink. It takes about 6 weeks total.