Pears in Pijamas (Douillons aux Poires)
Our second dish on our French Week is Pears in Pijamas, douillons aux poires in french. This beautiful dessert is a culinary specialty from Normandie and can be made with both apples and pears.
We love this dessert because it can be made in many different ways and the pears/apples can be cooked in a variety of liquors or ciders giving them a different taste each time. For our recipe we decided to use thick sweet wine since we had no cider at home and it turned out delicious.
Prep Time: 30 Minutes - the pastry also needs to rest 30 min
Cooking Time: 40 Minutes
Ingredients for 2 pears
Pears - 2 small/medium
Thick Dessert Wine (this is our version usually the recipe calls for Cider) - 150 ml
Water - 150 ml
Sugar - 100 gr
Egg - 1
For the pastry
White Flour - 250 gr
Salt - A pinch
Sugar- 85 gr
Butter - 150 gr (cold)
How to:
Preheat the oven at 180 degrees celsius (fan mode).
Put the flour, salt, sugar and butter into a mixing bowl and start mixing the dough with your hands adding up to 6 table spoons of cold water until the dough starts to come together. Work the dough with your hands until it is homogeneous, then make a ball, wrap it and let it rest in a dark space for 30 min (cupboards are perfect for storage).
Peel the pears and cut the bottom part, leave the stalks on. Bring the 150 ml of water, thick dessert wine (or cider) and sugar to boil and add the pears. The heat should be medium/high. Let the pears cook for around 10/15 min (it really depends on your pears). They need to be tender but not soft (your fork should go in but not break them when it goes in).
Once the pears are cooked dry them with some kitchen paper and put them aside.
Take your pastry out after the 30 min rest and start rolling it out on a floured surface to about 4 mm thick. Make a rectangular paste rather than circle or square and cut thick long strips. Then take your pear and starting from the bottom wrap the dough around it from bottom to top. Don’t worry if your strip of dough is not long enough you can add another one and work the doughs together on the pear. Pinch the dough together and brush the pears with the beaten egg.
Bake for around 40 minutes, until the dough is golden.
Remove from the oven and enjoy :)