Recipe & Photo Credit: Karen Martini for Good Food
INGREDIENTS for PEARS
250ml honey
400ml verjuice
2 pinches saffron threads
3 fresh bay leaves
2 sprigs rosemary
8 beurre bosc pears, firm
METHOD FOR PEARS
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees fan-forced or 200 degrees conventional.
2. In a medium pot, bring all the ingredients, except the pears, to the boil, then take off the heat.
3. Peel the pears, cut in half lengthways and remove the core, but leave the stem intact. Lay the pears in a ceramic dish that will fit them snuggly. Pour the liquid over the top and cover the dish with baking paper and foil. Bake for 40 minutes, then uncover, turn the pears a couple of times in the hot syrup and cook for a further 30 minutes or until cooked, turning on the grill for the last 10 minutes to colour.
4. Remove from the oven and serve with custard.
INGREDIENTS for CUSTARD
1 vanilla pod, split and scraped
150g castor sugar
zest of ½ lemon
4 tbsp cornflour
6 egg yolks
650ml milk
450ml cream, 35 per cent fat
METHOD FOR CUSTARD
1. In a large bowl, combine the vanilla seeds, sugar, lemon zest and cornflour, then whisk in the egg yolks.
2. In a medium pot, add the milk, cream and vanilla pod and simmer over medium heat for 2 minutes.
3. Remove the vanilla pod and pour the liquid over the egg mix, whisking as you pour until amalgamated.
4. Pour the custard back into the pot and cook over medium heat, just until it starts to bubble, stirring or whisking constantly to ensure it doesn’t stick to the bottom. Once the custard is thick and free of lumps, pour into a jug and serve. You can also refrigerate and serve cold. The custard will keep for three or four days.
