Mulled Cinnamon-Orange Pears, poached in the oven with warm spices and topped with a dollop of slightly sweetened maple mascarpone cheese, make a never-to-be-forgotten fall or winter dessert. An easy, make-ahead, gluten-free simply elegant pear dessert!
When I'm deciding what to make for dessert when I have friends for dinner, I often think of something luscious involving chocolate, a simple affogato coffee dessert, a traditional Dutch apple pie or a simple fruit crumble, like Pecan Pear Crisp.
But nine times out of ten when I'm looking for a winter dessert, I come back to these mulled cinnamon-orange pears. These pears are poached in a sweet cinnamon-spiced orange sauce and served with a dollop of mascarpone cheese slightly sweetened with maple syrup and orange zest.
I've made this poached pear dessert many times and always receive requests for the recipe. It's just that good.
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❤️Why you'll love this recipe
- Prep ahead of time! You can prepare these mulled pears ahead of time and heat them in the oven while you're eating dinner! The aroma of warm fall spices will waft through your home while you eat.
- Gluten-free. This easy recipe makes a naturally gluten-free dessert. While the cinnamon-orange sauce is flavoured with an orange liqueur like Triple Sec, you can leave it out if you don't use alcohol in your cooking.
- Serve whole or sliced. I've described two ways to serve this poached pear dessert: with sliced pears or with tiny whole pears.
🛒 Ingredients
You'll find a complete list of ingredients with amounts in the recipe card below. Here are a few helpful notes.
- pears: I use Bosc pears if I'm serving them sliced or Forelle or Seckel pears if I'm serving them whole. See the section below on the best pears for poaching.
- orange: you'll need orange juice and orange zest. Remember to zest the orange first before squeezing it. You may need another orange (or a little juice from a carton) to make a full half-cup.
- orange liqueur: I use Triple Sec in this poached pear recipe, but Gran Marnier or Contreau will work, too.
- sugar: use brown sugar, coconut sugar or Golden Monkfruit sweetener for a slight caramel flavour.
- spices: you'll need whole cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, whole allspice and star anise as well as ground cinnamon and nutmeg.
- mascarpone cheese: sweeten the cheese with a little maple syrup and orange zest.
🔪 Step-by-step instructions
- Peel the pears and slice in half from the stem end to the base. Remove the stem and core using a small paring knife or even a melon baller. Slice the pears so they fan out, leaving ¾ inch intact at the stem end. Arrange in a single layer in a baking dish. Sprinkle with lemon juice to prevent browning.
- Combine the spices and sprinkle over the pears.
- In a measuring cup or small bowl, combine the orange juice, Triple Sec and brown sugar (or coconut sugar or Golden Monkfruit sweetener.) Pour this mixture over the pears. Cover with foil (or an oven-proof lid) and bake for 30 minutes, basting the pears with the liquid at 10-minute intervals. Check at 20 minutes and remove from the oven when they are barely fork-tender.
- While the pears are poaching in the cinnamon orange sauce, prepare the mascarpone cheese topping. In a small bowl, combine mascarpone, maple syrup and orange zest. Set aside in the refrigerator.
- Remove the baking dish from the oven. Gently remove the pear halves with a slotted spoon to another serving dish or to individual dessert glasses. Strain the liquid to remove the whole spices.
- Pour the strained liquid into a small saucepan and simmer over medium-low heat until reduced by one-third.
- Pour this warm cinnamon-spiced orange sauce over the pears, dividing equally among the dessert glasses. Top with a dollop of maple mascarpone and serve!
👍🏼Elaine's make-ahead tip
To make these poached cinnamon orange pears ahead of time, follow the instructions through Step 6 above. Instead of arranging the pears in dessert glasses, return them to the baking dish, pour the cinnamon-orange sauce over the pears, cover and refrigerate.
Reheat at 350°F. for 10 - 15 minutes or until gently heated, then arrange in dessert glasses, top with maple mascarpone and serve.
🔁 Variation: using whole poached pears
Serve the pears whole! Whole poached pears make a spectacular presentation. I like to use tiny pears, like Forelle or Seckel when I serve them whole. These varieties are usually available in late November or early December. Follow the instructions above but instead of slicing in half, carefully remove the core.
The only tricky part of this recipe is carefully removing the core while leaving the pear intact. I use a very thin knife with a sharp point to scoop out the few seeds that these usually contain.
Arrange the pears in a baking dish with a lid, and add the orange juice, Triple Sec, brown sugar and spices.
Pop the dish in the oven at 350°F. to simmer for 45 to 60 minutes while you eat dinner. Your home will smell heavenly! These pears become tender and almost melt in your mouth.
❓Questions readers ask
A firm variety of pear is best for poaching. I like to use Bosc pears because they're naturally sweet but you could also use Anjou pears. Firm varieties keep their shape once they've been simmered with orange juice, Triple sec and warm fall spices in this recipe.
Bartlett pears are sweet and tender, but they bruise easily and don't hold their shape as well as a pear such as Bosc or Anjou. It's best to stay away from them for this recipe.
In the unlikely chance that you'll have leftover poached pears, store them with any remaining sauce in an airtight container in the fridge.
They'll be delicious either cold or gently reheated.
An easy way to ripen pears is to place them in a paper bag with a ripe banana or an apple. Both these fruits give off ethylene gas which speeds up the ripening process.
🍽 Serving Suggestions
While a dollop of whipped maple mascarpone cheese changes this from a simple dessert to an elegant dessert, you can easily substitute vanilla ice cream, whipped cream or dairy-free ice cream.
This recipe can be both a simple pear dessert for a dinner party, or a festive holiday dessert for the winter season.
And if you like pear desserts, try this Gluten-Free Cinnamon Pear Tart with Caramel Sauce, or Pecan Pear Crisp, too.
When you make these poached pears, please leave a comment and a star rating below. Subscribe to my newsletter and have new recipes delivered straight to your inbox once a week.
This recipe was originally published in 2015. I've updated it with new photos, and more detailed instructions. I've also included the option to use sliced pears as well.
🗒More gluten-free dessert recipes
📖 Recipe
Mulled Cinnamon-Orange Pears with Mascarpone
Ingredients
- 6 medium pears, a firm variety like Bosc or Anjou
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- ½ cup orange juice or ½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- ¼ cup (or more) orange liqueur (Triple Sec, Gran Marnier or Cointreau) (optional)
- ¼ cup brown sugar or coconut palm sugar, or Golden Monkfruit sweetener
- 3 cinnamon sticks, broken if large
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon whole cloves
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon whole allspice
- 4 buds star anise
Garnish
- ½ cup mascarpone cheese
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon orange zest finely grated
Instructions
- Peel the pears and slice in half from the stem end to the base. Remove the stem and core using a small paring knife or even a melon baller. Slice the pears so they fan out, leaving ¾ inch intact at the stem end. Arrange in a single layer in a baking dish. Sprinkle with lemon juice to prevent browning.
- Combine the spices, both whole and ground, and sprinkle over the pears.
- In a measuring cup or small bowl, combine the orange juice, Triple Sec and brown sugar (or coconut sugar or Golden Monkfruit sweetener.)
- Pour this mixture over the pears. Cover with foil (or an oven-proof lid) and bake for 30 minutes, basting the pears with the liquid at 10-minute intervals. Check at 20 minutes and remove from the oven when they are barely fork-tender.
- While the pears are poaching in the cinnamon orange sauce, prepare the mascarpone cheese topping. In a small bowl, combine mascarpone, maple syrup and orange zest. Set aside in the refrigerator.
- Remove the baking dish from the oven. Gently remove the pear halves with a slotted spoon to another serving dish or to individual dessert glasses
- Strain the liquid to remove the whole spices. Pour the strained liquid into a small saucepan and simmer over medium-low heat until reduced by one-third.
- Pour this warm cinnamon-spiced orange sauce over the pears, dividing equally among the dessert glasses. Top with a dollop of maple mascarpone and serve!
Leah
This is an amazing dessert! It seems so simple, but it tastes incredible. Will definitely make this again.
Elaine
Agreed--it's one I make often! Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Erin
We were all blown away by how delicious these poached pears are! I made them for dessert when our neighbours came over. I didn't have mascarpone, so I used whipped cream, but next time I'm going to try the mascarpone. Thanks!