Pears With Caramel Sauce - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 cup white wine
1 None lemon, juiced
1 cup sugar
1 None vanilla pod, split lengthways
4 None firm pears, peeled with stems left on
1/4 lb soft toffee candy, chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 small slices brioche or challah bread, crusts removed and cut into triangles
2 tsp powdered sugar, sifted

Preparation

Pour the white wine into a medium-sized saucepan and add the lemon juice, sugar and 1 2/3 cups water. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod and add to the pan along with the pod itself. Bring to a boil, then add the pears and simmer for about 20 mins until just tender. Remove the pan from the heat and leave the pears to cool in the liquid.
To make the caramel sauce: Place the soft toffees and cream in a pan and and heat gently, stirring until the toffees have melted. Simmer for 10 mins, stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool, stirring occasionally.
Sprinkle the brioche slices with powdered sugar and grill under a medium preheated broiler until just golden. Leave to cool. Remove the pears from the cooking liquid and serve with the caramel sauce and brioche slices.