Meghan Markle shared her cozy Baked Pears recipe that’s packed with holiday flavor.This dessert uses pears, butter, lemon, spices, and either honey or maple syrup.Serve the pears with your favorite fixings, from granola and candied nuts to cool ice cream.
Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, has spent her time since leaving the royal family building her brand as a lifestyle expert, including sharing many of her favorite recipes. For her latest project, With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebrations, Netflix’s Tudum shared several of her recipes, including one for her cozy, festive baked pears.
Baked pears are a traditional dessert, and we even have our own nostalgic recipe. Because pears are in season in the fall and winter, they’re a timely fruit to bring into all your favorite wintertime recipes. Baked pears are very easy to make, but they have a stunning presentation because they retain their shape and bake to a lovely hue.
Markle’s baked pears are super simple, made with just butter, citrus zest, spices and honey. Markle uses Bosc pears, which are in season this time of year. Have enough pears so each person gets one whole pear, and scoop out the inner seeds with a melon baller. You can also use a paring knife.
Place the pears on a baking dish or sheet and put a pat of unsalted butter into the well you’ve made in each pear. On top of the butter, put a pinch each of cinnamon, ginger and lemon zest. Drizzle each pear with honey or, for an extra autumnal flavor, maple syrup.
Bake in an oven set to 375 degrees F for 20 minutes. After removing the pears from the oven, let them sit for 10 minutes—they will be steamy. They should be tender and caramelized.
For serving, Markle serves her baked pears with candied nuts and a dollop of yogurt. But there are myriad ways to present these tasty desserts. Ice cream is an obvious choice since it would make for a nice contrast to the hot pears, and vanilla is a classic fruit dessert pairing. (But many retailers including Trader Joe’s carry maple ice cream in the winter, which would taste great.) Any wintery-flavored frozen dessert would be good.
You can also vary your recipe by using different kinds of pears. Bartlett and Anjou pears are also in season and are well-regarded as baking options. You just want to make sure the pear doesn’t completely fall apart and that the subtle flavors come through once it’s baked.
You can serve baked pears with different toppings. Granola, dried fruits and nuts are all delicious options. Cheese is another unexpected but tasty pear pairing. Blue cheese makes for a dramatic flavor, but more subtle soft cheese or cheddar also taste good with pears. Use hot honey for a bit of flair, or mix in some more fall spices like cardamom and nutmeg for that cozy pumpkin spice flavor. Orange zest in place of lemon also screams fall flavor.
In a season of lots of sugary desserts, these pears are a nice way to shake things up with a simple, lightly sweetened bite. Plus, these pears don’t need much work to be a showstopping dinner finale. Just be sure you have enough pears for all your guests—we have a feeling these sweets will be flying off the pan.
Dining and Cooking