Look to poached fruit as easy holiday dessert

If baking is your thing, the holidays are all about dessert. But for the rest of us, dessert is sometimes the unfortunate victim of the 24-hour clock. There is just never enough time to get it all done.

Also, big family dinners are a lot, and desserts often tragically go uneaten. So, what is a conscientious food lover to do?

I like to key in on a dessert that is light but also can be made way ahead of time (I’m talking the weekend before) and served at room temperature. Fancy it up with a few store-bought components, and it can even be beautiful.

For me, that’s poached pears. Poaching fruit is remarkably easy, even if you’ve never done it before. It’s also almost impossible to mess up.

Poached fruit starts with a flavored sugar syrup. Then ingredients that taste good to you — whole spices, lemon peel or liqueurs, such as Lillet or aniseflavored Pernod — are added. Simmer seasonal fruits such as pears, apples or persimmons until they are tender but not mushy, and then cool and store in the poaching liquid until you’re ready to serve them. That’s it.

On the day you’re hosting, place a half piece of pear (or whatever it is you poached) in a bowl, spoon over some syrup and top it with a dollop of crème fraîche, runny brie or just a drizzle of cream. Sprinkle with store-bought granola, toffee, roasted nuts or even honeycomb and cracked black pepper to prove to your Instagram followers how elegant you are.

If you find yourself with some spare time, you can turn those poached pears into something else. Spread crème fraîche in the bottom of a prebaked tart crust and arrange thinly sliced poached fruit on top. Or line the bottom of a cake pan with sliced poached fruit and top with cake batter for a simple but impactful upside-down cake.

You can even just slice your pears and serve them on a simple after-dinner cheese plate, with no fuss at all. Repurpose the cooking syrup to sweeten cocktails, punch or wassail, since it’s almost the best part.

Of course, we’ve talked about cheese and cream, but remember that your poached fruit is a great option for friends who are dairyfree, gluten-free or vegan. Make sure your sugar is vegan, then top the pears with sprinkled nuts and even a drizzle of full-fat coconut milk.

Justin Ward is an assistant professor of culinary arts at The Culinary Institute of America, San Antonio.