caramelized bacon wrapped pears

Foodbuzz is running a bacon-themed contest, so I decided to get into the kitchen and crank out some bacon desserts. First up is a simple but elegant bacon dessert with fruit, so the artery clogging is balanced out. Kidding. I liked the pears because they have a neutral flavor, though any fruit like peach and other stone fruit would work as well.

The necessary ingredients are pears, bacon, sugar, and POM juice for the sauce, though you could substitute a red wine if you preferred.

I sliced the pears lengthwise, then scooped out the cores and the bottoms and stems. I then wrapped each pear half with a slice of bacon. I meant to buy toothpicks to pierce into the fruit so the bacon stayed in place, but I forgot. I would suggest doing it.

When the skillet heated up, I sprinkled sugar in the skillet and placed the pears, sliced side down, on the sugar. I wanted the bacon to pan fry in the caramelized sugar and develop a sweet, crispy, and chewy texture.

The bacon cooked up great like this. After I flipped the pears and cooked the other side for a few minutes, I transferred the pears to a parchment lined baking sheet to place in the oven. I had to scrape out the caramelized sugar before cooking the other four pears because it had cooked too much and tasted like burnt sugar with essence of bacon, which still was surprisingly good. I munched on burnt bacon caramel while I finished up the remaining pears. You may question how I have any sense of taste left, but don't worry about me.

After cooking and removing the other pears, I added a tablespoon of butter and POM juice to the skillet, then let it cook down a bit to reduce and thicken. As the sauce cooked, the pears were baking nicely in the oven. They were a bit firm to begin with, but the texture came out great afterward. Easily sliceable, but not mushy. I was pretty happy with the outcome of this recipe, and I liked how simple it was to make a tasty fruit dessert that didn't need a pie crust. Try it out if you're a bacon fan.

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caramelized bacon wrapped pears
Recipe by Christina Provo

Serves 4

ingredients -

4 firm Bartlett pears
8 slices bacon
2/3 cup granulated sugar, divided
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 cup POM juice or red wine

directions -

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. Slice the pears lengthwise. Scoop out cores and stems. Take a slice of bacon and wrap it around one half, securing ends with toothpicks (press them in deep, leaving enough of the end sticking out to remove before serving. Repeat with rest of pear halves and bacon.


2. Heat a large skillet over medium. When hot, sprinkle with 1/3 cup sugar. Immediately place pear halves on top, cut side down. Cook for 5 minutes; carefully flip over and continue cooking for another 5 minutes. Remove to baking sheet and place in oven. Discard caramel in pan onto a sheet of foil to cool before throwing out. Add remaining sugar and repeat cooking process.


3. After pears are removed from skillet, add butter and stir. Slowly pour in POM juice, stirring with a whisk constantly. Let cook on medium for about 5-7 minutes, until thickened and reduced.


4. Spoon sauce onto bottom of plate and top with two pear halves. Enjoy!

in the kitchen with POM ~ caramelized pears with a POM juice-aniseed syrup

The wonderful world of POM Wonderful sent me a selection of flavors from their new line of beverages, Pom Tea. I will post more about it in detail later, but a quick overview: Featuring the antioxidant-rich 100% POM juice, you get even more of a flavor punch with the addition of black, green, or white tea and additional fruit juices. They also sent a pen, which I think is pretty dang neat (I love pens and pencils!), plus a coupon for a free bottle of POM Tea. Score! Can't wait to get in the kitchen with those.

Since I'm horrible, I still have a few bottles from the last case of POM Juice I was given. One was used up to make the syrup sauce for the caramelized pears.

Whilst the original recipe only asked for water, I decided to sub it out with the POM juice. I also wanted to enhance the flavor by the way of a spice and eventually settled on aniseed and orange rind. My thinking lead me to believe that the tartness from the juice would pair well with the licorice tones of aniseed both would be brightened by the orange rind.

I've made this recipe before, and I always make the same mistake of crowding the skillet when I go to caramelize the pears. This time I did this process in two batches, though the skillet was still crowded and should have gone repeated the process thrice. Because it's the charm. After you caramelize the pear, the lot goes back in the skillet with the POM, aniseed, and orange rind, covered and allowed to sort of poach until tender. Again, the heat is more evenly distributed when the skillet isn't crowded.

Once you remove the fruit when desired level of tenderness is achieved, you raise the heat and let the syrup bubble if it needs to be reduced to a thicker consistency. I added the rest of the POM juice and a tablespoon or two of additional sugar.

Fruit desserts like this are easy, can be made ahead of time and are light, especially when served after a heavy meal. The flavor is concentrated so you really don't need very much. I served the pairs with brown sugar-sweetened yogurt cheese to give it a little contrast and a bit of extra depth.

Did the syrup taste as good as I expected? Yes. Just enough aniseed was added to lend it's flavor without being the overpowering taste, the orange rind brightened the dish, and the tartness was still there, albeit tempered by the sweetness. If you don't want the aniseeds, you could add anise extract at the end of the syrup cook-down process, starting with 1/4 teaspoon.

A little running update: I will be running a 15k (about 9 miles) tomorrow, Labor Day, so wish me luck! This is my first race over 6 miles and I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes. Race report to follow.

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caramelized pears with a POM juice-aniseed syrup
Adapted from caramelized pears from Martha Stewart

ingredients ~
4 red Bartlett pears (I believe I used about 10 mini pears, for a total of 20 halves)
1/3 cup granulated sugar (I didn't end up using all of the 1/3 cup)
1 8 oz bottle of POM Juice
1 teaspoon slightly crushed aniseed
Grated rind of 1 orange


directions ~

1. Halve pears lengthwise; remove cores. (A melon baller removes cores easily, but a small spoon works, too.) Place sugar on a plate.


2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Press cut side of each halved pear in sugar. Pressing the cut sides of pears in sugar before cooking helps them caramelize. Place cut side down in skillet (fit will be snug). Cook until beginning to brown, 7 to 8 minutes. (Cook in batches if skillet isn't large enough.)


3. Add 1/2 cup POM Juice, aniseed, and grated orange rind. Cover; simmer until pears are tender, 5 to 10 minutes (depending on ripeness), adding more water if sugar begins to burn.


4. Remove pears to a plate or bowl. Add remaining 1/2 cup POM Juice and two tablespoons of sugar. Turn up heat to medium-high and allow sauce to reduce until a syrupy consistency is reached. Serve sauce over pears. Serve with 1 cup yogurt cheese sweetened with 2-3 tablespoons brown sugar, divided amongst each plate, or sour cream or creme fraiche.