Poached Pear Baked Custard

Is there anything as glorious as silky smooth, rich, homemade custard? Probably not…

I made these poached pears for the kids the other day – thought it would be a nice treat while they were sick…
{Turns out they didn’t really care for it – perhaps because it wasn’t so sweet? Yay – more for us grownups!}

Instead of just serving the pears with yoghurt, I decided to turn them into a baked custard dessert – so easy and totally divine.

For the pears, you’ll need:

4 pears, peeled, cored and cut into quarters {lengthwise}
50g butter
1 cup water
1 tsp honey
1 tsp {heaped} cinnamon

Simmer all these ingredients in a saucepan for half an hour, until the pears are soft. Set aside and allow them to cool, discarding the remaining liquid.

For the custard, you’ll need:

Poached pears
4 egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla essence
1/4 cup xylitol
500ml cream
Pinch of salt

Heat the cream until warm, but not boiling.

Whisk together the yolks, vanilla, xylitol and salt.
Slowly add the warm cream while whisking.

Preheat your oven to 175C.

Prepare 6 small ramekins {just a tad smaller than a standard ramekin – else you could use 4 large ramekins} by placing 2-3 poached pear segments on the bottom.
Fill to the top with the custard mixture.

Place the ramekins in an oven tray filled with cold water – the water should come up to halfway.

Bake for 30 minutes – the tops will become a lovely golden brown.

Let them cool to room temperature and then chill them in the fridge before serving.

This is seriously easy to make and will take you back to your childhood of fruit and custard – just a bit more glam, healthy and totally homemade!
{No custard out of a box or fruit from a can! Just Low-Carb and Lovely!}

Enjoy! x