Polpo's Saffron Pears with Meringue

One of my sons gave me the most fabulous cookbook at Christmas, which has been an inspiration.  Polpo is a visual feast of Venetian and Italian recipes, and its puddings are simple and delicious.  This is one of them - a lovely confection of poached pears and meringue with a delicately flavoured syrup.  For some reason, the saffron I was brought back from Africa (also thanks Alexander!) gives everything a beautiful rose-pink colour instead of the traditional yellow.  The original meringue quantity in the recipe was enormous, so I have halved it below.  You do need to use firm pears - mine were too soft, which is why they look a little rustic!

Saffron Pears with Meringue

Saffron Pears with Meringue

4 egg whites

8oz/225g caster sugar

8 floz/250ml white wine

7oz/200g caster sugar

6 firm pears

Pinch of saffron

6floz/200ml whipping cream (I prefer to use double!)

Preheat the oven to 130 deg C and line two baking sheets with parchment.  Whisk the eggs until they form stiff peaks, then add the sugar slowly (as the meringue weeps otherwise!).  The mixture should be stiff and glossy when you have finished. 

Their great tip is to stick the edges of the paper down with a little mixture, which stops the parchment from lifting.   Make six nests of meringue with a spoon/pipe six nests using a ½” pipe (no, I couldn't be bothered either).   Bake for about 1.5 hours until the meringues sound hollow when tapped at the base.  Leave to cool.

Put the sugar, wine and 3 pints/1.5 litres of water into a pan wide enough to take the pears side by side.   Stir until the sugar dissolves, then leave the liquid bubbling while you peel the pears, leaving the stalks on.  As you prepare each pear, drop it straight into the simmering syrup.  Add the pinch of saffron and simmer on a low heat until the pears are soft (the recipe said 1 hour, I reckon 20-30 mins!).  Remove from the heat and allow the pears to cool.  Fast boil the liquid to reduce it to a syrup.    When the pears are cool, remove the cores and quarter them, keeping the tops attached to the stalk (be warned: this is nearly impossible!).

Whip the cream, put the cream onto each meringue nest and drape the pears over in an elegant fashion.  Pour some syrup over each and decorate with a few strands of saffron.