Step 1

Place sugar, wine, orange juice, vanilla, and spices into your saucepan and bring to a simmer

Step 2

Peel your pears and place them into the poaching liquid. Make sure they are covered. If they aren't, add more wine or juice until they are covered.

Step 3

Let your pears cook in the poaching liquid for 20 minutes. Occasionally turning them to make sure they are cooking on all sides evenly.

Step 4

Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the pears to cool in the poaching liquid

Step 5

Transfer the pears and liquid to a container with a lid (making sure pears are covered) and allow them to cool overnight. The pears will deepen in color overnight.

Step 6

Before serving the pears, remove them from the liquid and set aside.

Step 7

Strain your poaching liquid and return to the heat. Simmer over medium heat to reduce to a thick syrup (reduce by about 1/3). Allow to cool.

Step 8

Serve poached pears with ice cream, whipped cream or whipped mascarpone cheese and a generous drizzle of your cooled syrup.