Pear-Vanilla Bourbon Warmer

pear-vanilla bourbon cocktail header

Since the holidays are fast approaching, I wanted to fashion a weather-appropriate drink with enough versatility to please a crowd. I think I’ve succeeded. (At any rate, I think it’s pretty delicious.)

The result of blending pears with nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla is a warming, satisfying cocktail that takes a hint of freshness from Meyer lemons. As a bonus, whipping up the syrup will make your house smell insanely great.

The pear-vanilla syrup recipe yields about 1/2 cup. If you don’t use it all for cocktails (or mocktails for the kids), warm it and pour it over: yogurt, ice cream, fruit, hot cereal. Stir it into tea, or a hot toddy. It can be brushed onto cake or pastry as a glaze.

Pear-Vanilla Syrup:

  • 2 pears
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1/2 a vanilla bean, scraped
  • 1/2 cup golden sugar (or light brown)
  • tiny pinch of sea salt
  • 3 cups of water

Cocktail:

  • 3 teaspoons pear-vanilla syrup
  • 1.5 ounces vanilla bourbon (or regular bourbon)
  • 1/2 ounce amaretto
  • 1/2 ounce poire eau de vie
  • 1 tablespoon Meyer lemon juice
  • a dash of lemon bitters
  • soda water

Procedure:

1. Wash and dry the pears. Peel and core them; move the peels and cores directly into a medium-sized pot. (You can save the pears for snacking.)

pear 2

2. Add the nutmeg, the cinnamon stick, the vanilla (seeds and bean), the sugar, and the salt to the pot. Add the water, and give everything a stir, so that the sugar dissolves. From here, you have two options: You can simmer over low heat, which will take about 1.5 hours, or you can simmer over a more agressive medium heat, which will take about 40 minutes. The former takes longer, but doesn’t require as much attention. Either way, your kitchen will smell divine.

cinnamon sticks

3. When the syrup is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, take it off the heat. Run the solids through a sieve to extract the syrup: the cinnamon stick can be rinsed and used again, the vanilla bean can be added to a bottle of alcohol to flavor it, and the pear bits should be discarded. Move the syrup to the fridge to chill.

pear-vanilla syrup

4. Once the syrup is cold, remove it from the fridge. Fill a cocktail shaker 2/3 full with ice, and then add the: syrup, the bourbon, the amaretto, the poire eau de vie, the Meyer lemon juice, and the lemon bitters. Close the the top and shake, shake, shake, until the drink is thoroughly chilled.

shaken pear cocktail

5. Strain the drink into the glass of your choice. Pour in the fizzy water: you want about 2/3 cocktail to 1/3 fizzy water. Cut off a little patch of the Meyer lemon peel, and twist. Drop it into the glass as garnish. Enjoy cold.

pear-vanilla bourbon cocktail

vanilla beans at the bottom of the glass

pear-vanilla bourbon cocktail vertical 2

 

 

 

4 Comments

  1. Lindsay

    sounds divine! I want one

  2. Suz

    Yes please.

  3. Vanessa @FrenchFoodieMom

    This sounds incredible. I’m going to make it for our Chicago Food Swap this weekend. And then again for holiday gifts! What a great way to capture fall. Thanks for sharing. And thanks for Relish for sharing your blog and recipe!

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