12 Sep sweet baked pears

This is a beautifully simple and quick way to get dessert on the table.

sweet baked pears (for four)

Ingredients

4 pears

1 tablespoon of muscovado sugar

1 tablespoon of runny honey

1 x 250g tub of mascarpone

6 cardamon pods, seeds removed

Handful of finely chopped walnuts

Method

1. Pre-heat your oven to 200c/180c fan/Gas Mark 6.

2. Slice the pears in half and remove the core.

3. Put the pear halves, core side up, in a roasting dish. Sprinkle the muscovado sugar evenly over th pears and drizzle with the honey. Roast in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until the pears have started to caramelize and soften. They should have some lovely cooking juices from the sugar which we’ll use to serve.

4. Meanwhile, mix the mascarpone with the cardamon seeds.

5. Once cooked, remove the pears from the oven and transfer to a serving plate.

6. Add a dollop of mascarpone in the core of each pear half.

7. Top with a sprinkle of finely chopped walnuts.

8. Finish by drizzling some of the lovely sugary cooking juices over the pears and serve immediately.

This recipe first appeared in Insider Magazine in The Irish Independent on September 11th