Rooibos & Honey Poached Pears

And served with homemade cinnamon whipped cream?  Mmmmm.  Rooibos is a red tea that's grown in South Africa.  You can certainly buy it in America, but you'll find a lot more rooibos-based treats and beverages in Cape Town and Johannesburg.  In fact, I had a creamy rooibos tea at the indie favorite Labia Theatre while catching a screening of the recent Jozi Film Festival documentary, Orania.

My love for tea, combined with the delicious wine-poached pears I continued to encounter on South African dessert menus, led to this creation.  And they're really, really good.

To accompany these rooibos pears, here's Cat Stevens's "Tea for the Tillerman."

Ingredients:
Pears:
--4 pears, cored and halved
--2 c. granulated sugar, + 1 c. to thicken the syrup later
--2 c. water
--1/2 c. honey
--1 cinnamon stick
--6 rooibos tea bags

Whipped cream:
--1 pint heavy whipping cream
--1/4 c. dark brown sugar
--2 tsp. ground cinnamon

In a medium saucepan, combine all ingredients for the pears (except the reserved 1 c. of sugar) and heat over medium until the sugar and honey have dissolved.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for approximately 30 minutes to infuse the rooibos flavor.  You'll want to keep the pears submerged during the simmering--I place a small plate on top of them (make sure you use one that can withstand the heat).

Remove the pears and add an additional 1 c. granulated sugar.  Continue to simmer until the sugar has dissolved.  This will thicken the syrup so you can use it as a sauce.  Once the sugar has dissolved, allow the syrup to cool.  Refrigerate it with the pears, and drizzle over each pear half when serving.

The cinnamon whipped cream is optional, of course, but it's also delicious.  In a medium-sized bowl, combine the heavy whipping cream, brown sugar, and cinnamon.  Beat until you've reached your desired consistency.  Serve a scoop with each pear half.