What a Pear!
Last week it was all apples, this week we are focusing on another fruit of the season, the beautiful pear! Lara has already provided you with the Pear Nectar Martini which would be a great choice for this weekend but here’s another alternative, the Pear Brandy Champagne Cocktail.
I first had this cocktail at one of my Cooking Club gatherings and since then I’ve used it several times. This original recipe calls for pear brandy (Poire William) and sugar but I think you could shortcut this by just using a pear liqueur like the one I picked up from St George Spirits. Since the liqueur is brandy with added sugar, your work has already been done for you! Either way, try this cocktail either as a nice Happy Hour beverage or for fall brunch.
Pear Brandy Champagne Cocktail
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup plus 4 teaspoons French pear brandy Recommended: Poire William
- 2 2/3 cups chilled champagne
- 1 Seckle or small Bosc pear
In a small saucepan, heat sugar and 1/4 cup pear brandy over moderate heat until sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat and cool syrup.
Spoon 1 1/2 tablespoons syrup into each of 4 champagne glasses and add 1-teaspoon pear brandy to each glass. Add 2/3-cup champagne to each glass and stir well. Cut pear lengthwise into thin slices and add 1 slice to each cocktail
And, like last week, we are going to echo the fruit in the cocktail with our appetizer.
One of my favorite combinations is blue cheese and pear. You will need to select a creamy blue cheese or one of my favorite cheeses, Cambozola, which is a combination of blue cheese and Camembert. This combination is always smooth and the blue cheese flavor is not quite as intense but still very present.
Let your cheese sit at room temperature for about an hour to make sure it is soft. Just before serving peel and slice a pear into generous slices - you don’t want them to break when you spread the cheese on them. A good pear to use for this is Bosc, as even when ripe the pear is fairly firm, but any pear variety will do. Just make sure that it isn’t so ripe that it falls apart when you touch it.
Spread some cheese on a slice of pair, take a sip of your champagne and enjoy the weekend!
