Wishing you a very Pear-y Christmas
Hiya!
Christmas is officially upon us, THIS IS NOT A DRILL.
When I was thinking about what I was going to write for this week's newsletter, I was a little bit stuck because let’s be honest. The world doesn't need another Christmas Turkey recipe, or another “5 Ways To Make Sprouts Suck Less” (even though I do personally love the fart-inducing monsters.) Instead, I figured that this year we should give a bit of love to the Christmas dessert, which is often either shop-bought or is carelessly thrown together at the eleventh hour because everyone’s usually so focussed on the starters and mains.
Introducing, my Christmassy Mulled Wine Poached Pear Galette, which to me, encapsulates the quintessential aromas and flavours of Christmas. It’s easy to make and is also a bit of a visual showstopper (it even sort of looks like a Christmas wreath!) so you can enjoy the 'oohs' and 'ahhs' that you rightfully deserve for making it; great for a celebration of one, or with family and friends.
It was inspired by two of my favourites: mulled wine and Alison Roman, who is my absolute favourite cookbook author, food writer and person in general. In my mind, I genuinely believe that we're besties (in a non-creepy way), so much so that I even drunkenly DM-ed her on Instagram last year. No, she didn’t file a restraining order and yes, I'm still worried that she might read it someday.
The genesis of the Christmassy Mulled Wine Poached Pear Galette is pretty simple. What's better than a nice warm pear poached in red wine served with a dollop of cream? *dramatic pause* Probably a pear poached in mulled wine in all its cosy, aromatic, holiday spiciness, baked in a gorgeously crisp shortcrust pastry, and served with an ever so slightly sweetened, luscious mascarpone cream. However, if you’re a custard connoisseur, this galette pairs (or “pears” 😉) really well with cold custard too.
It sounds fancy, it looks fancy, it tastes fancy – but most importantly, it's not a massive ballache to make, which you know is my kind of recipe. Of course, please feel free to exaggerate the amount of effort it took to make this galette so your guests (assuming you’re allowed them) can show their appreciation with presents – your secret's safe with me.
Part of the ease of this recipe is also in the fact that I've used shop-bought shortcrust (Alison, please don't kill me!) because even though I've dipped my toe into the world of pastry (see previous pie recipe here) I'm just simply not emotionally and spiritually ready to make it from scratch. BABY STEPS, PEOPLE.
As always, I hope you enjoy this recipe, and if you make it, don't forget to tag me in your pics at @forksandchopstix. 😍
Christmassy Mulled Wine Poached Pear Galette
Serves: 8 healthy portions
Prep time: 45mins
Fridge time: overnight
Oven time: approx. 1 hour 15mins
Shopping list
Mulled red wine, 1 bottle or 750ml if you make your own
Pears, approx. 1kg, ripe but firm
Caster sugar, 1 and 1/4 cups, plus 2 tablespoons for sprinkling after assembly
Ground cinnamon, 1 tablespoon
Cloves, 5 pieces
Ground nutmeg, 1 teaspoon
1 orange
Salt, a pinch
Lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon
Cornstarch, 1/4 cup
Unsalted butter, 50g, cold and cut into small cubes
Shortcrust pastry, 2 packs pre-made, pre-rolled, approx. 750g
1 egg
Mascarpone, 750g
Icing sugar, 1/4 cup
Vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon
Double cream, 1 tablespoon
White sesame seeds or flaked almonds, 2 tablespoons for sprinkling (optional)
Okay cool, now:
1. Prepare your pears by halving them and slicing them into thin, 1 to 1.5cm wedges, removing the core as you go. I like to keep the skin on as I find it holds the fruit together during baking and adds texture to the galette, but feel free to remove the skin with a peeler before you slice and core them.
2. Prepare your poaching liquid in a large pan, adding 1 bottle of mulled red wine, 1 cup caster sugar, 1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon, 5 cloves, 1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg, a pinch of salt and the peel of 1 orange. Stir to dissolve the sugar and bring to a boil. Gently tip the pears into the poaching liquid and slowly return to a boil over medium heat. Once it starts to bubble, turn the heat down to low or medium-low and allow it to simmer very gently for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Delicately fish the pears out and spread on a plate to cool quickly. Pour the poaching liquid into a bowl with a sieve on top, and discard the collected spices. Let the poaching liquid cool to room temperature before returning the pears to the liquid. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
3. While your pears marinate in the fridge, make your mascarpone mixture by spooning the mascarpone into a large bowl. Add 1/4 cup of icing sugar, 1 tablespoon of double cream and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract into the bowl and give it a good stir to incorporate. This should taste only slightly sweet. Tightly cover or transfer to a tub and refrigerate.
The next day:
4. Remove your pastry from the fridge and let it sit in its box on your countertop for 10 minutes to come up to room temperature. In the meantime:
5. Finish your filling prep by pouring out the vermilion-hued marinated pears into a large bowl with a colander placed on it. Shake off as much liquid as you can and transfer the strained pears to a large bowl, setting aside the reserved poaching liquid. Add 1/4 cup of that poaching liquid and 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice to your strained pears. In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup caster sugar and 1/4 cup cornstarch with a fork before cascading them over your pears and gently tossing until everything is thoroughly coated.
6. Prep your galette crust by delicately easing the pre-rolled pastry down the sides and into the corners of your round non-stick pie tin (like my previous pie recipe, I used an 8-inch round tin because that’s what I have, but feel free to use one that’s slightly larger if you have it) allowing the excess to overhang. The overhang of the pastry is important as that’s what you’ll be using to create the galette top, so if the sheet of pastry is too short, just cut and overlap using more pastry, gently pressing down to flatten areas which have been patched together.
7. Assemble your galette by tumbling the pear mixture into the pie dish. Level them out gently and then dot on 50g of cold, small cubes of unsalted butter. Fold in your pastry overhang over the pears, overlapping them as you go along – tear off any excessive bits of overhang so can get a nice wreath-like pastry top.
Brush on your eggwash (1 egg, beaten with 1 teaspoon of water using a fork) and sprinkle over the crust 2 tablespoons of sesame seeds – another fab Alison Roman tip – or 2 tablespoons of flaked almonds if you prefer, followed by the remaining 2 tablespoons of caster sugar. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to get the pastry cold again in order to give your galette the best chance to crisp up nicely (and to avoid having the dreaded soggy bottom!)
In the meantime, preheat your oven to 200°C (180°C Fan).
8. Remove the galette from the fridge and bake uncovered for 60 - 75 minutes, rotating it once halfway through. I like to place the pie tin directly on the wire rack with a tray on the rack below in case there's any sort of over-enthusiastic boiling or leakage. Check in on your galette after 30 minutes, and if she is browning too quickly, just loosely tent her with some foil that has a small hole in the middle to allow steam to continue escaping and continue baking.
9. Leave your galette to cool completely. And I'm not exaggerating when I ask you to cool it for at least 3 hours to allow the filling to fully set. True story: I impatiently sliced my first galette after only cooling it for 30 minutes and to my horror, all its burgundy juices flowed right out over the cutting board and onto my countertop. It was a total (messy) disaster, so please let it cool completely for at least 3 hours – I assure you, this galette is meant to be eaten at room temperature.
Slice up and serve with a scoop of the fridge-cold mascarpone mixture, and enjoy!
Feel free to disregard the mascarpone mixture (even though I highly recommend it) and instead, serve the galette with vanilla ice cream, cold custard or double cream if you prefer. Of course, feel free to make your own pastry from scratch if you're feeling up to it – Alison Roman has the full galette crust recipe which you can use.
Regardless of how you choose to modify this recipe though, I hope you and your loved ones enjoy it as much as I do, and that you have a very merry Christmas and happy holidays! 🎄🎅☃️
Happy cooking and see you for another issue of Forks & Chopstix in a couple of weeks.
x Mark
Looking for more recipes to check out, why not these?
A very lovely Lancashire Hotpot
My favourite Lasagne and meaty Ragu
Singapore Chicken Curry with Rice or Noodles
Mushroom Shawarma Pitas with Turmeric Yoghurt
Vietnamese Bun Cha with Beef or Tofu
Slow-Roasted Gochujang Chicken with the works
Or follow me on Instagram for more:@forksandchopstix