Brûléed Posset-Filled Pears #SundayFunday

This weekend the Sunday Funday writers are shining their lights on an Autumn's darling: the pear. Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm is hosting.

Stacy of Food Lust People Love, Sue of Palatable Pastime, Rebekah of Making Miracles, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm, and I coordinate this low-stress group; we only participate when we are inspired.

The Line-Up

• Arugula and Pear Salad by A Day in the Life on the Farm

• Brûléed Posset-Filled Pears by Culinary Cam (you're here)

• Cranberry Pear Mostarda by Palatable Pastime

• Gluten free Frangipane Pear Tarts by Sid's Sea Palm Cooking

• Pear and Cherry Sourdough Bread by Karen's Kitchen Stories

• Pear Crisps by Food Lust People Love

• Protein Packed Winter Veggies & Fruit Salad by Sneha's Recipe

• Roasted Pear & Beet Salad by Amy's Cooking Adventures

• Roasted Pear Crostini by Mayuri's Jikoni

• Sparkling Pear Salad Dressing by Our Good Life

Previous Pear Creations

Whenever pears are in season, I love to use them. I have previously made...Upside-Down Pear Gingerbread, Earl Grey-Poached Pear Salad, Red Wine-Poached Pears with Chocolate and Culinary Fairy Dust, but basically anything you can do with an apple, you can do with a pear. I have been making jars and jars pear sauce in recent weeks. For this event, however, I wanted to try something I had never done before.

Brûléed Posset-Filled Pears

I have heard about the British dessert - a posset - for years and, honestly, I didn't see how it would actually set without eggs or gelatin! But it worked...with just heavy cream, sugar, and freshly squeezed lemon juice And I have tried it several more times just to be sure.

I did some researching though and wanted to share: the original posset was a dessert or drink made from curdled milk enriched an alcohol to sherry); it was often used as a curative for colds or fevers.

For this version, I hollowed out some pears and used those as my serving dishes. The only thing I would do differently would be to try and retain more of the pear shape. I mean, these fruit bowls could have come from any fruit, right?

Ingredients

• pears

• 2 cups heavy whipping cream

• 1/2 cup organic granulated sugar

• 1 Tablespoon limoncello

• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

• organic granulated sugar

• also needed: a culinary torch

Procedure

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Slice the pears and scoop out the flesh to create a bowl. I used a melon-baller. Place the prepped pears in a baking dish and pour water into the dish to come up about 1-inch on the fruit. Cover the dish with foil and place in the preheated oven. Bake until the fruit is soft to the touch, but still holding its shape. My pears were pretty firm, so it took about 15 to 20 minutes.

Remove the fruit from the water and pat dry. While they cool, make the posset.

Place whipping cream, sugar, and limoncello in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and keep it simmering. Watch it carefully so it doesn't boil over. Stir occasionally while the cream thickens. Cook for approximately 8 to 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, remove the pan from heat and stir in the lemon juice. Whisk to completely incorporate, then let it stand for 20 minutes. Pour the liquid into the pear cups and let it cool completely until set. I let these cool for about 4 hours.

When you're ready to torch them, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of sugar on top of each posset. Using a small butane torch, hover a flame over the sugar, moving it around until the sugar caramelizes.

Serve immediately.

That's a wrap on my pear offering for this week. The Sunday Funday group will be back next week with baked recipes. These can be savory or sweet, basically anything that is baked. I can't wait to see the range of recipes. Stay tuned!