Chai Spiced Pears with Chai Toffee Syrup & Custard

What You Need: for the poaching

200 grams of  brown sugar
600ml of water
6 cardamom pods lightly smashed to open the pods
3 cinnamon sticks (I added a pinch of ground cinnamon also )
6 peppercorns
2 vanilla beans, or 2 teaspoons of vanilla essence ( please not the imitation stuff)
6 cloves or 1 teaspoon of ground clove powder
3 star anise or 1 teaspoon of ground powder
1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon of ground ginger
zest of one orange and juice
1/2 teaspoon allspice ( for good measure)
4 pears   (hard not to ripe)
Ready made custard or make your own for serving. I just made mine from regular old custard powder

What You Need : for the toffee syrup

1/4 cup of the strained poaching liquid
1 heaped tablespoon of honey

What To Do:

1. Peel the pears and leave the stalks on  you can leave the cores in the pears or remove them with an apple corer. (it's a bit fiddle though)
2. Place all the poaching ingredients into a heavy based saucepan and bring to the boil, turn the heat down to a  low simmer. Place the pears in the poaching liquid and simmer for about 40 mins or until the pears are tender.
3. Use a ladle and remove the pears drain off and place one in each bowl.
4 Strain the poaching liquid and set aside..

 For the syrup:

1. Place 1/4 cup of the poaching liquid in a saucepan and boil it down to reduce it as much as you can, add the honey and whisk it until it becomes quite thick and glossy, but be careful not to burn it. then set aside to cool it will become thicker and more like a soft toffee.
Make or pour the custard around the pear, drizzle the toffee syrup over the top of the pear and place one of the used cinnamon sticks into each bowl as a garnish.
Serve hot or cold the pears ( by themselves) will store in the fridge for a few days.

Chai Spiced Pears with Chai Toffee Syrup & Custard