This Easy Winter Dessert Tastes Just Like a London Fog

Pears are so often overlooked for more exciting winter produce, such as blood oranges, quince, or persimmons. While those fruits are delicious, I have a soft spot for ripe, juicy pears. They are delightful raw or cooked: in crumbles, galettes, tarts, or simply poached in wine or tea.

My recipe for poached pears below takes inspiration from one of my favorite beverages—the London fog—which consists of Earl Grey tea, vanilla syrup, and steamed milk. There’s no milk here, but there’s plenty of fragrant Earl Grey tea and a whole vanilla bean, which gives the poaching liquid a delicate floral flavor. It’s a simple dessert that’s delicious on its own or served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Here’s how to make it.

Key Techniques for Making Earl Grey and Vanilla Poached Pears

Use bagged tea. For ease, I recommend using bagged tea rather than loose-leaf. If you prefer, you can  also purchase high quality loose-leaf tea and bag it yourself. If you go this route, you’ll need empty, fillable tea bags and a microscale—prepared tea bags typically contain about three grams of tea per bag, which may be too small of a quantity for a regular kitchen scale to accurately weigh. (If you don’t have teabags, you could steep the loose leaf tea in a large measuring cup, then strain it into the pot or Dutch oven in step one of the recipe below.) There are many excellent bagged and loose-leaf Earl Greys out there, so just choose one you'd like to drink on its own to make these poached pears. (For guidance, check out our reviews of the best bagged and loose-leaf teas).

Avoid overly ripe pears. Avoid overly ripe pears, which will be too soft for poaching, and opt for pears that are just beginning to become tender. They’ll soften further as they cook, and won’t turn to mush. Though you can use whatever varieties you find at your local grocery store or farmers market, I have a preference for Bartlett or Starkrimson pears. As I touched on in my recipe for red wine poached pears, these varieties are both juicy when ripe, but still have some firmness, making them good for cooking with. Their skins also change color as they ripen, a helpful indicator of whether they’re ready to eat or cook with: While Bartlett pears go from green to yellow, Starkrimsons go from deep to bright red. To check the ripeness of your pears, press them gently and give them a sniff—they should have some give and have a sweet aroma.

Use a real vanilla bean. Because this is such a simple dessert that relies on just two ingredients for its flavor—tea and vanilla—it’s really worth seeking out and using an actual vanilla bean; vanilla beans have complex flavors that range from floral and creamy to smoky or nutty. If you can’t find vanilla beans, I recommend substituting with one and a half teaspoons of vanilla bean paste, which is made from ground vanilla beans and will have a more robust flavor than vanilla extract. If vanilla bean paste is unavailable, use two teaspoons of vanilla extract. It will still be delicious, just not as deeply flavored.

Simmer gently. Keep an eye on the stove and avoid boiling the pears, as they can overcook easily and become mushy. Simmer the pears over medium heat, rotating them every now and then to ensure they cook evenly, then gently remove them with a slotted spoon or tongs once they’re tender.

It’s the easiest one-pot dessert that takes just about 30 minutes to prepare, and if that isn’t the best gift of all during the hectic holiday season, I don’t know what is.