Easy (really easy) and Elegant Dessert

“Oh, that Em is an unbelievable cook. I hope she invites us to dinner.”

Ha ha ha.

If this were a “Jeopardy!” answer, the question would be:

“What are ‘Things no one ever says?'”

So when I find something edible that’s both impressive AND easy, let’s just say I’m onto something worth sharing!

Elegant? Well…it’s not pizza.

How edible?

Enough for my son to ask me to show him how so he could make it for his friends.

How easy?

So easy that as soon as we made them the first time, I decided to play with the recipe to make it even more fabulous.

“Wait, you wanted to take something that was already EASY and make it less easy?“

Yes, and let me tell you…STILL easy. Still elegant. And even more delicious.

When you have a SUPER easy dessert, the first thing you have to do is give it an extremely pretentious and complex-sounding name so people think you’re an amazing cook. And before I tell you the extremely pretentious title we concocted for this dessert, please note that prior to making them, I would absolutely refuse to eat the main ingredient.

Yuck. Ew. No! Never. Pass.

PEARS!

I HATE pears. They are, imho, nature’s grainy bastardization of a perfectly delightful fruit…the apple.

I doubt you’ll ever catch me eating one that isn’t part of this recipe….but when it is, it’s blissfully enhanced by a bourbony syrup, wrapped in pastry, drizzled in caramel sauce… MMMMMMMMM. Plus…ice cream. And bourbon. And ice cream. Also, not a hint of graininess.

We’ve made this recipe with different types of pears, and they all work fine but my favorite is:

I won’t pretend to be a pear connoisseur… I just like how it looks. The Concorde has a long, thin profile…and the fact that it’s slow to brown when cut means I can skip brushing it with lemon juice.

You are free to uncomplicate it, or complicate it further than we did. And, credit where it’s due, Mr. originally found the inspiration for this dessert at Delish.com…the call-it-what-it-is “Baked Pear Pies.”

Here’s our abridged version of “Bourbon Pears en Croute.”:

• Cut a pear in half, slice and scoop out the fibery junk in the center, peel off the skin.
• Wrap the outside of the pear with 1/3 of a pre-packaged pie crust and bake until golden. (Cut some decorative leaves from the remaining crust, toss ’em on the tray and likewise bake until golden.)
• Flip and fill the hollowed out part of the pear with a scoop of vanilla ice cream
• Drizzle with pre-purchased caramel sauce and garnish with pastry leaves.

Yeah…that’s it! Pretty delish, cool looking dish.

However….

Slightly less-abridged version:

Let’s put in a little more love….and by love, I mean alcohol. You are welcome to add as much love (alcohol or other ingredients) as you have time. Make your own fabulous pie crust, see if I care. You can even skip the bourbon if you want to save some $$… Or maybe try some whiskey or Kaluha if you have some on hand. The “abridged version” comprises the basics…everything else is flexible….

If I can’t hurt this, I doubt you can. Heck…I even make my own caramel sauce (see below) which is also shamefully simple.

During our most recent forays, we’ve been making the recipe and cooking it ahead of time and optionally re-heating thoroughly before serving. (I think the ones above were actually reheated twice, tbh.) Just keep an eye on the crust…though ours have never over browned. I like them warm…but Mr is a cold-pie guy…so again…FLEXIBLE!

Here, in general, is our version.

Ingredients (serves 6):

• Three ripe pears of choice
• 1/2 c brown sugar
• 3 tbsp melted butter
• 1-2 tbsp bourbon
• 1 package of pre-made pie crust (2 crusts for six pears)
• Vanilla ice cream
• Easy Caramel Sauce (see below.

Directions

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper for easy clean up.

Slice each pear in half. Peel off the skin. Remove the core material (but keep the stem because it looks cool). Use a spoon to make a little “bowl” shape in the bottom. Flip the pear over.

Melt or soften the butter and mix with brown sugar and bourbon. Brush the mixture onto the pear.

Take one premade pie crust and cut into thirds. Each third covers one pear. Gently stretch and shape as needed. Trim off excess and cut leaf shapes from the trimmings.

Prick the pastry here and there with a fork. Bake, crust side up, at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden (Optional: before baking, brush pastry with remaining bourbon/sugar/butter mixture).

Bake pastry leaves as well:

Remove from oven, allow to set for 5 minutes. Flip, fill the divot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Drizzle with caramel sauce and garnish with pastry leaves.

Easy Caramel Sauce

• 1 c packed brown sugar (granulated will work too)
• 6 tbsp butter
• 1/2 c milk, cream, or half and half
• 1 tsp vanilla

Add sugar, milk and butter to a saucepan, cook over low/medium heat. Keep stirring! In about 5-ish minutes the sugar will dissolve and you’ll have a nice creamy sauce. Keep stirring, add vanilla and stir for another minute or two. Serve warm or cold.

Variations

I love me a good flexible recipe! And if Salted Caramel is your thing, add a half (to a full) tsp of kosher salt.

So many ways to make these… my son ended up making his “Hasselback potato style,” he made little slices part-way through, then brushed on softened butter and sprinkled the brown sugar on top. He saved his bourbon and added it to the caramel sauce. Bourbon caramel sauce? Skip the pie, just hand me a spoon.

Too complex? You could even skip the Hasselback slicing and poke the pears with a toothpick before brushing with the butter mixture.

And if you can’t be convinced to eat a pear….I’m certain any variation involving apples and cinnamon would be a worthy substitution! In fact, I think I may try that soon!

Now…if you have a no-fail main course suggestion…. I would be VERY grateful!!!

Enjoy!

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My friend Leslie from Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After is hosting a dessert link up, to which I was able to add this recipe. Be sure to check out her grandmother’s cinnamon/orange sweet rolls.