Baked Pears with Marsala Wine and Cinnamon
Soft, melt in the mouth pears baked with cinnamon in Marsala wine and sweetened with Muscovado sugar. Serve with crème fraîche, fresh cream or vanilla ice cream and you have an outstanding winter dessert which you can put together in minutes, and cook slowly whilst you eat the rest of your meal. Perfect on any day over the holiday season, but if you are looking for something a little different for the big day, why not try this dessert for your special Christmas meal? Even better, as it cooks, the cinnamon and Marsala smell will permeate deliciously through the house.
Where is this recipe from?
I have been making this dessert for decades, having first found it in the blue River Cafe Cookbook. Not only is this a fabulous dish, there are so many incredible recipes in the book, which I constantly return to, time and time again. If you don’t own a copy, I can’t recommend it enough.
How to make Baked Pears with Marsala and Cinnamon
This is a fabulous dish to make for as many, or as few, people as you like. In the recipe at the base of the page, I have given quantities for 1 person only. To increase the quantities, simply scale up. The choice of baking dish is important: the liquid should come half-way up the sides of the pear, so make sure they are quite snug in the baking dish.
Collect all your ingredients together:
- ripe pear(s)
- unsalted butter, at room temperature
- soft Muscovado dark or light sugar – or use dark or light soft brown sugar
- Marsala wine
- white wine
- cinnamon stick
How to make this incredible dessert:
- Slice the base off each pear to create a level surface so the pear can stand up straight. Remove the core, but ensure the pear stays whole.
- Smother the skin of the pear with softened butter
- Place in a baking dish ensuring they fit snugly. Scatter over the sugar.
- Pour the white wine and Marsala into the dish, ensuring the liquid comes half-way up the sides of the pear(s). Break over the cinnamon stick.
- Cover with foil and bake in a pre-heated oven for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, remove the foil, lower the heat and cook for a further 30 minutes.
- Serve in warmed dishes with crème fraiche, ice cream or fresh double cream. You may wish to remove the shards of cinnamon before you serve.
Ingredients 
1 Prepare pears 
2,3 Add butter, sugar 
4 Marsala, wine, cinnamon 
5, 6 Cover, bake 
6 Serve
Made this recipe?
If you make this recipe, do please tag me on instagram @daffodil_kitchen. You could also leave a comment in the box directly below the recipe.
Baked Pears with Marsala Wine and Cinnamon
Soft, melt in the mouth pears baked with cinnamon in Marsala wine and sweetened with Muscovado sugar. Serve with crème fraîche, fresh cream or vanilla ice cream and you have an outstanding winter dessert which you can put together in minutes, and cook slowly whilst you eat the rest of your meal.
Serves 1 – simply scale up to increase quantities
Ingredients
- 1 ripe pear
- 10g unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 15g soft Muscovado dark or light sugar – or use dark or light soft brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons Marsala
- 2 teaspoons white wine
- ½ cinnamon stick
To serve:
- crème fraiche, ice cream or fresh double cream
Instructions
-
Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.
-
Preheat oven to fan oven 160°C /180°C/350°F/Gas 4.
-
Slice the base off each pear to create a level surface so the pear can stand up straight. Remove the core, but ensure the pear stays whole.
-
Smother the skin of the pear with softened butter.
-
Place in a baking dish ensuring they fit snugly. Scatter over the sugar.
-
Pour the white wine and Marsala into the dish, ensuring the liquid comes half-way up the sides of the pear(s). Break over the cinnamon stick.
-
Cover with foil and bake in a pre-heated oven for 20 minutes.
-
After 20 minutes, remove the foil, lower the heat to fan oven 130°C/150°C/300°F/Gas 2 and cook for a further 30 minutes.
-
Serve in warmed dishes with crème fraiche, ice cream or fresh double cream. You may wish to remove the shards of cinnamon before you serve.
Recipe Notes
Equipment:
- kitchen scales and measuring spoons
- chopping board and knife
- apple corer
- kitchen foil
- baking dish/es
Scale up as necessary:
This is a fabulous dish to make for as many, or as few, people as you like. I have given quantities for 1 person only. To increase the quantities, simply scale up. The choice of baking dish is important: the liquid should come half-way up the sides of the pear, so make sure they are quite snug in the baking dish.
Where is this recipe from?
I have been making this dessert for decades, having first found it in the River Cafe Cookbook. Not only is this a fabulous dish, there are so many incredible recipes in the book, which I constantly return to, time and time again. If you don’t own a copy, I can’t recommend it enough.
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