Pearlicious

I just invented the best dessert. Ever.

I often have that problem where I want something sweet yet satisfying, but ordinary desserts don’t cut it. I’ll wander through my kitchen (mentally – it’s not that big) and have a nibble here, a nibble there, and before I know it I’ve had several cookies, a handful of chocolate chips, a few spoonfuls of sorbet or ice cream, and probably a handful or two of cereal. But this impromptu tapas-style desserting fails to satisfy.

Read a food or health magazine and they’ll tell you there’s nothing as satisfying or as delicious for dessert as a piece of fresh fruit. Fruit? The dessert connoisseur in me scoffs. But on some level they are right. The nights when I grab an apple for dessert I find myself feeling fuller, more satisfied, and healthier than the graze-and-eat-whatever-sugar-I-can-find nights. Then again, there are the days – most days, that is – when an apple or an orange just won’t cut it, when you need something just a little sweeter and a little heavier. Pure decadence.

Tonight was one of those nights. I began the graze. A handful of chocolate chips. A scoop of goat’s milk ice cream (to satisfy the ice cream-loving lactard that I am). And then I stopped and reevaluated my methods. Neither healthy nor satisfying, and much too processed for my crunchy, back-to-nature lifestyle. (Ha.) And then I remembered the crazed fruit addict who spent $40 on oranges bananas and pears at Whole Foods the other day. Those barely underripe pears hanging out in the fridge – maybe I could do something with them.

First let’s realize that I am not much of one for delayed gratification, despite my love of baking. I am the one who fills up on raw dough or batter and then doesn’t care much either way for the finished product. I didn’t want to have to wait to roast or poach or bake or whatever it is you do to pears to make them deliciously dessertified. But what is it about a baked pear or apple that really makes it so good? Not the warm gooey smooshiness. So not my style. It’s the brown sugar caramel goodness and spicy cinnamon that really gets me going.

Hence my spectacular dessert invention:

No-Bake Baked Pear:

1 D’Anjou pear, cut into thickish slices (1/2”)
Small spoonful of brown sugar sprinkled over slices
Generous shaking of cinnamon sugar over slices

Let sit for a couple minutes to allow the sugars to juice and sweeten the pear, which should still be firm.

Then gobble up, making sure to clean every last crumbly crumb of brown sugar from the plate with pear slices, finger, and/or tongue. (Manners? What?)

I ate in. In about two minutes. It was amazing. I am full. And I am going to eat this every day for the rest of my life. Or until I run out of pears, which will bring me to … two days from now.