Poached Pears In Wine Syrup - cooking recipe

Ingredients

3 cups white wine
1 cup sugar
None None Few strips of orange peel
1 cup orange juice
2 None cinnamon sticks
1 small bay leaf, plus additional, to garnish (optional)
6 None pears, peeled, stems intact
None None Whipped cream, to serve (optional)

Preparation

Place the wine, sugar, orange peel and juice, cinnamon, bay leaf and 1 cup water in a saucepan large enough to hold 6 upright pears. Stir on a low heat, until the sugar dissolves.
Increase the heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer gently for 5 mins. Lower the pears into the syrup; cover and simmer for 30 mins, turning several times. Remove from heat. Let stand in the syrup to cool.
Remove the pears from the syrup. Boil the syrup in the pan on medium heat until reduced and thickened. Strain syrup through a sieve. Place the pears in serving bowls and pour over the strained syrup. Garnish with bay leaves and serve with whipped cream, if desired.