Rum-baked pears with chestnut puree and cream

Babiche Martens

Ingredients

2 tsp	Butter, to grease
4	Pears (Main)
2 Tbsp	Rum
1 tsp	Vanilla essence/extract
2	Cinnamon sticks
2 Tbsp	Brown sugar
¾ cup	Water
2 Tbsp	Chestnut puree, sweetened, available at gourmet food stores
½ cup	Cream, whipped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 160C. Generously butter a baking dish.
2. Halve the pears and lay them in the dish. Pour over the rum and vanilla, tuck in the cinnamon sticks and scatter over the sugar. Pour the water into the bottom of the dish then bake for an hour. Remove from the oven, cover with tinfoil and continue to cook for a further hour.
3. Fold the chestnut puree into the cream then serve with the warm pears.