Boreas Inn’s Washington Stuffed Butter Rum Pears

Boreas Inn’s Washington Stuffed Butter Rum Pears Six servings

• Six medium fresh pears (Bartlett and D’Anjou are my favorites and they should be ripe but not too soft)
• ¼ cup packed brown sugar
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ½ cup whole pecans (or you can used chopped macadamia nuts)
• ½ cup dried cherries or cranberries
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup Rum (I use spiced rum)
• Caramel sauce– I use Trader Joes Caramel Fleur de Sel
• Fresh mint

Preheat oven to 375. Core each pear. In a small bowl, combine sugar, spices nuts and cherries or crannies. Arrange the pears upright in a baking dish. Fill each pear’s core with the mixture and tamp down. Scatter what is left of the stuffing in the bottom of the baking pan so you have nuts and fruit to add to the serving dishes. Drizzle rum down the core of each pear. Dot with butter and place remaining cubes of butter in the baking pan. Cover and leave to marinate overnight or you can bake immediately. Before baking, pour about ½” of water into the bottom of the baking dish. Bake the pears for about 45 minutes or until tender but not mushy, more or less time depending upon ripeness of the pear. Place each pear in an individual serving dish and dollop with a half teaspoon of caramel. Spoon the hot liquid from the pan over the cores of the pears and add the extra nuts and fruit to the dishes. Garnish the core with a sprig of fresh mint and serve warm. You might prefer to serve with a dollop of sour cream, whipped cream or yogurt. For a dessert, you can drizzle with good dark chocolate sauce and add a scoop of vanilla ice cream.