“If you go down to the woods today
You’re sure of a big surprise.
If you go down to the woods today
You’d better go in disguise.
For ev’ry bear that ever there was
Will gather there for certain, because
Today’s the day the teddy bears have their piiiiicnic.”
My earliest memory of Pears will always be tied to that classic children’s song, Teddy Bears Picnic! I was in kindergarten (in New Zealand) and my mum packed me a picnic lunch with a pear for my “Teddy Bears Picnic day” in school. We went to a park nearby where we all sat down in a big circle and sang Teddy Bears Picnic while eating lunch. Good nostalgic memories indeed! (And now that song is going to be stuck in my head all day too!)
Back in the present, I think I may have a pear obsession. I don’t eat pears all the time but having been in season and being displayed everywhere in the local grocery stores in the last few months, I have been seemingly enticed into a new obsession. It doesn’t help that there are so many different types to choose from and so many different things that can be created out of them. I do love eating pears out-of-hand but I absolutely have to tell you about my new most favourite way of enjoying them – my Vanilla Pear Cocktail With Ginger!
There are so many types of pear out there. Bosc, Bartlett, Anjou, Asian, Seckel, Comice and then you also have the red varieties too. I prefer Bosc and Bartlett pears, but you can use any kind of pear you like for this. For this particular recipe I have used Bartlett pears that were perfectly ripe. Bartlett pears that have a yellow shade on their skin are beautifully sweet, needing only the littlest amount of sugar to enhance the flavour.
You can see that I have pureed pears for this cocktail rather than use store-bought pear juice or pear nectar which might be a slightly more convenient alternative for you if you choose to do so. This way though I can control exactly what goes in my cocktail and it is slightly cheaper to buy pears and puree them yourself at home with a blender. Plus I absolutely love the texture of pureed pear.
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Ingredients:
- 3 Bartlett Pears
- 1/4 cup sugar syrup
- 3/4 cup Vodka
- 1/2 cup Almond milk
- seeds scraped from 1/2 vanilla pod or 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 inch ginger piece minced or grated.
- A bowl of cold water with the juice of 1 lemon mixed in
Instructions:
- Peel and core the pears, and cut them into large chunks.
- Immediately place them in the bowl of cold water with the lemon juice until you're ready for the next step.
- Drain the pieces of pears and steam them for about 4-5 minutes until they are tender, but still firm.
- While they are hot, place them in a container and cover the pears with plastic wrap and let them chill in the fridge.
- To make the cocktail, place the steamed and then chilled pears in a blender with half of the sugar syrup, ginger, vodka, almond milk and vanilla beans and process everything until the mixture is nice and smooth.
- Transfer to a jug/container with some Ice cubes. Taste and add the rest of the sugar syrup if needed (I only needed about 3 tbsp of sugar syrup).
- Chill until ready to serve.
“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”
Let me, let you in on a neat trick that works like a charm in a pear cocktail like this. You may know from experience that when you slice or cut a pear in half it browns after a little while of being exposed to air (like apples, bananas, avocados etc. do). This is the result of an oxidation reaction caused by an enzyme in the fruits. This can be temporarily stopped by rubbing the cut surface with some lemon. This is why I usually place cut pieces of pear in a bowl of water with some lemon juice to make sure they look appealing and fresh even after some time. However once you have pureed the pears they turn brown even quicker, and you may have seen that a lot of pear cocktails out there seem to suffer from this unappealing brownish look. Adding lemon juice was also not an option for this recipe because that changes the flavour too much for me. So instead I steamed the pears before using them. This deactivates those oxidizing enzymes and helps retain the original flavour of the pears. And as you can see it worked beautifully and the drink did not discolour at all even after about 15 hours (which is about the longest this cocktail has lasted in our house so far!). And you can easily keep those steamed pears in the fridge (or freezer for longer) and whip up this cocktail whenever you want.
There is something truly serene about the look of this snowy-white cocktail. I love the almost paradoxical gritty smoothness of the pureed pears. And those tiny flecks you may notice in this cocktail are from Vanilla beans. It makes the cocktail wonderfully aromatic and adds another layer of subtle flavour to it. The real star however is the fresh ginger! It gives a rich aromatic warmth to this drink that you cannot get anywhere else and completely enhances the boozy kick you get from the vodka. I honestly cannot have enough of this. It’s a beautiful cocktail (and without the alcohol, a refreshing drink even kids could enjoy) that you can enjoy any time of the year and it is most certainly going to be a part of our Thanksgiving meal this year! I can’t help repeating how much I love the subtle gritty texture of pureed pears and the almond milk rounds off this perfectly seasonal cocktail with a smooth delicious taste. If you could ever take Fall and Winter, process them in a blender together and pour them in a glass, this is surely what it would look like.
It is our first Thanksgiving together here in the giramuk house hold! Although the kitchen is going to look nothing short of a war zone this week, I will still be updating my facebook, twitter, instagram, pinterest or google-plus with all that’s happening here!
I will be back this week for another awesome recipe, so stay tuned in, or better yet subscribe for updates and free recipes via email below or on the sidebar. I love reading your comments below, so please feel free to show me some love 🙂
Madu says
Can i make a soft drink by omitting vodka? Any substitute so that can be served to kids
Dini says
Hi Madu
If you just want to serve pear juice, then you don’t have to add vodka and can serve them as is.
Hope that helps
Hilda says
I will certainly make this one – such a great combination of ingredients. So good in fact that I will forgive you for having planted that song in my head. It was a great favourite of ours when we were little and is still played at teddy bear picnics in the summer which are very popular with children here.
Dini says
I am so sorry Hilda!! 🙂 It was stuck in my head for a few good days too! Would you believe my husband never heard of it until I was singing it! I loved going on Teddy Bear Picnics too. 🙂
Michelle says
Ooh this cocktail is definitely a winner for me, I love fresh ginger in almost anything! I’ve never been a huge fan of pears, but after recently baking them with almonds I’m a convert! I’m definitely going to have to try it with ginger, thanks so much for sharing!
Dini says
I love fresh ginger too! 🙂 I grew up drinking Ginger tea, so I completely understand the obsession with ginger! 🙂 You can add more liquid (alcohol if you’re like me, or milk) to dilute the flavour of pears if you prefer too! Completely customizable! 🙂
Judi Graber says
I just finished playing the lyrics on YouTube as I was not familiar with it. Since it was written in 1907 I was certainly born after that LOL! Amazing what we are brought up with by our parents and how it stays with you. Since you brought a delicious cocktail to the party and I did too FF #46 is sure starting off with a “bang”. Pears are so plentiful now and a perfect drink to make. Thanks for sharing… 🙂
Dini says
My husband hadn’t heard of the song before I started singing it at home while writing the post! I didn’t realize it wasn’t too common of a song :p You’re right – It is a song that will forever be associated with pears for me 🙂 I am checking out your cocktail right now! FF is always a fantastic place to see awesome recipes! I hope you have a wonderful weekend Judi!
Michelle @ A Dish of Daily Life says
What a lovely cocktail! Pinning to my drink board! Thanks for sharing it with us at Foodie Fridays…I love seeing what you link up every week!
Dini says
Thank you Michelle! 🙂
Katie @ The Perfect Brownie says
Oh yeah, this looks lovely. I saw it in your e-mail newsletter and just had to read about it.
I have a favorite pear recipe from Parade Magazine. It’s called Pear Flip Flop. The simplest recipe and I challenge anyone to stop eating it. My husband asks for it more often than any other dessert.
Great post & photography as usual!
Dini says
Thank you Katie! 🙂
I must check out Pear Flip Flop!! I have been going a little crazy with pears these past couple of weeks, and I’m sure it will show on the blog too. I might be trying this dessert next!!