Very Ripe Fruit A Must For Sweet Pear Pudding

Anyone who claims to not like pears hasn’t tasted ripe fruit. Who could resist the flavor combination of honeysuckle nectar and late-harvest wine?

Anjou pears, my favorite, are especially succulent and sweet when ripe but tasteless otherwise. Pears are hard and firm in supermarkets; it prevents them from being mashed to a pulp in transit. Fortunately, as the fruit softens (and it will continue to do so after picking), it develops its characteristic perfumed taste.

Buying a pear with the intention of eating it that day is bound to be a disappointment. Learn to anticipate. Decorate the kitchen counter with a bowl of pears; arrange the fruit as a table centerpiece.

Or, do as the experts suggest and place the pears in a paper bag for a few days. Then when the kitchen smells like an orchard, it’s time to eat, or to make this luscious Pear Bread Pudding.

Pear Bread Pudding

3 (3/4-inch-thick) slices white bread

2 eggs

1 cup milk, half and half or whipping cream or a combination

1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg

2 to 3 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons pear liqueur

2 medium-small very ripe pears, peeled, cored and diced into 1-inch cubes

Toast bread slices until light brown in color. Cut into 1-inch cubes. Set aside.

Beat eggs in medium bowl. Add milk and nutmeg and mix well. Add 2 tablespoons sugar and pear liqueur. Add bread and pear cubes and mix gently, but well. If pears are not very sweet or liqueur is dry, add additional 1 tablespoon sugar.

Pour mixture into buttered 2-quart glass bowl. Bake at 325 degrees until knife inserted near center comes out clean and mixture is firm, about 1 hour. Serve warm.

Yield: 2 generous or 3 regular servings.