Poached Pears in Puff Pastry

The first time I remember having poached pears was on a cruise. They were served in a fruity sauce and I always wanted to try and re-create them. When I found an old recipe in my stash of "recipes to try one day" I liked the idea of the added pastry around the pear. I used plums because it was fruit I had in my freezer. This makes a beautiful dessert after a big dinner and works well into a day of prep by being able to make it ahead and refrigerating until dinner is out of the oven.

Poached / Wrapped Pears and Filling:

• 6 pears, peeled and cored
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups water
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 pkg frozen puff pastry
• 4 oz cream cheese
• 1/2 cup icing sugar

Plum Sauce

• 1 - 1 1/2 cups syrup, left after poaching pears
• 3 cups / 750 ml chopped plums, fresh or frozen
• 1/2 teaspoon / 2 ml cinnamon

1. Peel and core pears, slicing just a tad off the bottom to make them stand easily.
2. In the meantime, bring sugar, water and lemon juice to boil in a pot large enough to hold the pears standing up.
3. Place prepared pears in syrup, bring to boiling point, then reduce and simmer until pears are tender, about 10 - 15 minutes.
4. With slotted spoon, lift the pears out of the syrup, place on a plate and cool in refrigerator.
5. To syrup in pot add chopped plums, bring to boil and simmer for about an hour, until thick and syrupy. Stir in cinnamon or any flavor you prefer.
6. Beat cream cheese and sugar until fluffy and pipe into cooled pears after coring from the bottom.
7. Roll out each half of thawed pastry to about 12 x 12 inches. Cut square into quarters.
8. Place a prepared pear in the center of a quartered square. Taking one corner, pull up and wrap over the top, around the stem. Brush edges with water as you repeat with the next three corners. Repeat with the rest of the pears and place on parchment lined cookie sheet. Cut leaves out of the leftover pastry and decorate as you like. Chill 20 minutes or until ready to bake.
9. Bake at 425° F 25 - 30 minutes until golden.
10. Serve warm with plum sauce.