Muscadine Poached Pears with Vanilla Ice Cream

You can make your poaching liquid days in advance (I keep the remainder of my poaching liquid in the refrigerator for weeks so I can have poached pears easily anytime).  You can even poach your pears in advance and warm up for about 10 minutes before serving with ice cream.

Muscadine Poached Pears with Vanilla Ice Cream

Ingredients

• 1 bottle (750 ml) white muscadine wine (sometimes referred to as Scuppernong wine), or other sweet dessert wine
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups water
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 1" piece fresh ginger peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
• 2 to 4 pears, peeled
• vanilla bean ice cream, for serving

Serves 2-4
Cook time: 40 minutes

Make simple syrup: in a saucepan large enough to hold the pears combine sugar and water.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and let simmer for about 5 minutes.  Once sugar has dissolved add the wine, cinnamon stick, honey, sliced ginger, split vanilla bean, and scraped seeds, bring to a simmer and add pears.
Simmer pears for about 20 minutes, until soft and easily sliced into.  Remove ice cream from freezer about ten minutes before serving so it's scoopable.
Serve with a scoop of ice cream drizzled with the syrup.  You're probably going to need a knife, fork, and spoon for this one.
Tip: when I make this dessert, I save the syrup in a deli container and use it over again and again until it runs out.  Syrup will keep in refrigerator for months and is an easy dessert when you have fruit on hand and want to impress (it's great with apples, plums, peaches, etc.)