The Ambassador's Table: poached pears

A Temporary Farewell And Some Sweet Valentine's Inspiration

Dear all,
you might have wondered why there has been not quite the ususal frequent posting here at
"The Ambassador's Table".
My life has been a bit complicated lately due to several reasons,the strongest of them were some health issues I had to deal with.
Thanks God, things ar slowly improving but it hastaken a lot of energy and time to get back on the road.
Now I think it's time to take a ( hopefully creative ) break from blogging, spending more time with my family and concentrating on photography.
For the time being, you will find my news on Instagram and FB.
However I will keep in touch with you my friends and fellow bloggers.
Your support and inspiration mean the world to me so I will continue to read your posts and occasionally comment.
Hopefully," The Ambassador's Table" will be back by June.
But that's not all of course.Valentine's celebrations are ante portas and I would like to present you some sweet inspirations from previuos posts for this special day.
Have a happy Valentine!
Hugs and until then
Daniela

Decadent Chocolate-Merengue Semifreddo With Caramelized Orangesauce

Subtle French Temptation: Creme Brulée with Blueberries and My First Blogging Annniversary

A Delicate Pleasure:Sweet Omlette Soufflé

Pears go glamour: poached with spices and served with orange butter

Sweet Tropical Temptation: Passion Fruit Cheesecake

Sweet Valentine with delicate Crepes Suzette

Enjoy!

Pears, often considered the humble cousins of apples, are one of the most versatile fruits and have a delicate aroma and natural sweetness, talents that makes them one of the shining stars of atumn.

They belong, curiosly enough, to the rose family, that gives them a quite aristocratic family background.

There is an enourmous verity of pears grown around the world, an estimated over 3000.!

Apart from sweets they make a wonderful match with cheese, specially blue cheese.

Pears contain antioxidants and anti- inflamatory flavonoids and are rich in diaetary fiber.

So enjoy this wonderful fruit not only for its lovely taste but also for its health benefits.

Here is another elegant way to prepare them, poached and served with orange butter and lemon zest.

Pears go glamour: poached with spices and served with orange butter

Or, as a sophisticated appetizer,combined with blue cheese and crunchy Prosciutto.
Roquefort Mousse With Poached Pears

For the Pear Upside Down Cake
You Need:
For the topping
4 Pears, cut in medium slices
1 spoonful butter
2 spoonful brown sugar ( I prefere to use little sugar, so the natural aroma of the pears is not overwhelmed.)

For the cake:
1 pear, peeled and diced

250g (8.8 oz.) of flour

½ teaspoonful of baking powder

125g (4.4 oz.) of unsalted butter

120g (4.2 oz.)of sugar

1/8l of milk

Preparation:

In a large skillet, heat butter at low heat until butter has melted.

Add sugar, stir gently until sugar has melted than add sliced pears and continue cooking until pears are slightly caramelized.
Set aside.

Arrange the pear slices in a greased baking pan.

-In a large bowl, combine the flour, butter, sugar, eggs and milk.

-Mix with a hand mixer until smooth and fluffy.

Cover pears with cake batter, smooth with a spatula.

Preheat oven to 220CBake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the top of the cake is golden brown and a thin knife or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove cake from the oven and place it on a cooling track.

Let the cake cool down for some minutes (not longer, otherwise the pears will stick to the backing pan), then run a knife around the edges of the cake.
Place a cake plate over the cake and, using hot pads, flip the cake carefully over.
Gently remove thecake pan.
Et voila!