Preheat oven to 375 degrees (190 Celsius). Line baking sheet with parchment paper.Remove cores from pears with melon baller. Carefully remove stem that runs through centre of pear with a paring knife, leaving stem attached and intact. Set aside.
ingredients
directions
In small sauté pan, over medium heat, melt butter and honey together. Add vanilla bean, star anise, cardamom and cinnamon and nutmeg. Heat until mixture is foamy, about 1 minute. Add pears, cut side down, and reduce heat to medium low. Cook pears until golden brown, about 10-12 minutes. Add brown sugar and lemon juice, and cook until mixture is syrupy, 1-2 minutes. Remove spices and reserve syrup.
Transfer pears cut-side up to parchment, and bake until pears are tender, 5-10 minutes.
In a bowl, beat together cream, mascarpone and sugar, until soft peaks form.
Serve pears with dollop of mascarpone cream a drizzle of syrup.
Tip: If using small ripened pears, it may be unnecessary to transfer to oven. Check tenderness of pears by inserting tip of paring knife.
If making with larger pears, such as Bartlett, Bosc, or Anjou pears; use large sauté pan.