Caramelized Pears

It is pear season!  Pears are one of our favorite fruits.  One day several years ago, Charlie heard an idea for caramelized pears on the radio.  We tried the recipe, and immediately fell in love with it.

Caramelized pears are a very simple, delicious dessert that makes it seem like you spent a lot more time fussing than you really did.  I changed a few things from the original recipe, just to suit our tastes.  We like to top our warm caramelized pears with a sprinkle of cinnamon and a small scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream.

As a side note, the vanilla sugar I use is very easy to make: I just put a vanilla bean in a small shaker filled with sugar.  After about a month, the vanilla flavor has delicately infused into the sugar.  Vanilla sugar is a delightful topping for this caramelized pear recipe - and for many other recipes as well!   

Caramelized Pears

• 2 ripe pears (Bartletts are great)
• 2 tablespoons vanilla sugar
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• sprinkle of cinnamon
• vanilla ice cream (this homemade recipe is delicious!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Peel each pear, then in half and remove the core and stem.  Place in small baking dish.  Sprinkle with sugar and dot with butter.  Bake for about an hour, or until pears are caramelized.  Remove to a pretty dish, and top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Sprinkle pears and ice cream with a tiny bit of cinnamon.  Serve warm.