Poached pears with homemade ice cream

You can use shop-bought ice cream if you prefer.

SERVES FOUR INGREDIENTS

450ml double cream 225ml full fat milk

A few drops of vanilla essence 3 egg yolks

90g caster sugar

4 small pears, such as Williams or Comice

150g caster sugar

500ml water

Zest and juice of 1 orange 2 wide strips of lemon zest ½ cinnamon stick

1 star anise

METHOD

To make the ice cream, add the cream and milk to a pan with the vanilla and bring to a gentle boil.

Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl, until nice and pale.

Just as the cream reaches a gentle boil, remove from the heat, pour over the egg mixture and whisk well. Return the mixture to the pan and set over a gentle heat to cook out the eggs, stirring with a wooden spoon until the mixture starts to thicken. It’s ready when it coats the back of the spoon and leaves a line if you draw your finger through it.

Pour the custard into another bowl and allow to cool – if it looks like it will split, place the bowl over ice and whisk until the temperature reduces. Churn in an ice-cream mixer as per the manufacturer’s instructions, and freeze.

To cook the pears, use a pan large enough to hold all the pears and put all the pear ingredients into it, apart from the pears themselves. Bring to the boil to dissolve the sugar, then take off the heat.

Peel the pears and core them but try to leave the stalks on.

Place them in the warm syrup, making sure they are submerged. Cover with a circle of parchment paper and place a plate on it to make sure the pears stay covered.

Bring to the boil then turn down the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, until the pears are soft and a knife can go through them easily. Remove from the heat and remove the paper and plate. Lift the pears out with a slotted spoon and allow to cool. At this stage you can put the liquid back on the heat to boil it down to a syrup if you like.

To serve, cut each pear in half and scoop the ice cream on top. Serve immediately, with some syrup if you like.