Ease of preparation: Medium
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients:
Poached pears
1 x 750 ml bottle Zinfandel wine or other red wine
1 cup (240 ml) honey
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon (5 ml) whole cloves
2 star anise
3 Bartlett pears, peeled with stems intact
2 tablespoons (30 ml) lemon juice
Molasses loaf
2 ½ cups (600 ml) flour
1 teaspoon (5 ml) baking soda
2 teaspoons (10 ml) baking powder
½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) salt
½ cup (120 ml) brown sugar
½ cup (120 ml) olive oil
2 eggs
2/3 cup (160 ml) molasses
½ cup (120 ml) milk
Method:
Let’s get baking!
To make the poached pears, add wine, honey, cinnamon, cloves, and star anise to a saucepan. Heat on medium, stirring, until it starts to simmer. Add pears and bring to a low boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes, or until pears are tender but not mushy.
Remove pears from saucepan using a slotted spoon and let cool.
Boil poaching liquid until it reduces to a thick syrup. Remove from heat. Add lemon juice and stir in.
To make the loaf, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
In a separate bowl, whisk together brown sugar, olive oil, and eggs. Add molasses and milk and mix in. Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and slowly pour in molasses mixture, then stir to combine.
To finish, preheat oven to 350 F (175 C).
Pour loaf mixture into a greased loaf pan to 2/3 full. Press a pear into the mixture stem-side up. Distribute the other 2 pears evenly through the loaf. Bake for 30 minutes.
Remove from oven and cover top of loaf pan with foil. Bake a further 20-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Heat the poaching syrup. Cut loaf into slices. Plate slices and pour syrup over top.