Poached Pears in a Port/Wine Reduction

I really enjoyed making this one.  First time poaching pears and this sauce reduced beautifully.  The marscapone cheese and cream/sugar combined well to give a full spectrum of tastes in this delicious dessert dish.  Pure indulgence!!

For better pics of this check out my friend's blog http://ckiong.wordpress.com

Ingredients

- 6 pears (cored, peeled and halved)
- 1 1/2 cups port
- 1 1/2 cups red wine
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 5 anise stars
- cinnamon sticks
- 1/2 cup marscapone cheese
- 1/2 cup cream
- 1/2 cup icing sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions

1. Pour the port, wine, sugar, anise and cinnamon sticks in a heavy saucepan.  Bring to the boil and then simmer 15 minutes.
2. Put the pear halves in the sauce and cook for 30 minutes till tender.
3. Remove the Pears to a dish.  Continue to cook the sauce to it reduces to a syrup.  Strain and keep for later.
4. The last 4 ingrediensts combined and whisked to form a cream.  Use a piping bag to serve with 2 pear halves and a topping of the syrup.

Enjoy!!