I’m always amazed how a little patience can transform the woody flesh of a pear into something as soft and sweet as custard. Right now, pears are at their peak, so it’s a great time to poach them for future use.

Preheat oven to 100°C.

Remove rubber seals from large preserving jars and place in boiling water. Place clean jars in the oven for 30 minutes.

Place 3kg caster sugar and 4L water or wine in a saucepan with a vanilla bean and seeds, a cinnamon quill and a star anise, and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve sugar completely.

Reduce heat to medium. Peel 5kg pears, cut into segments and remove cores.

Poach pears in the simmering syrup until just translucent (about 8 minutes), then immediately transfer to sterilised jars. Fill with syrup to about 3cm from top and seal.

Place a wire rack in a tall stock pot and add the jars. Fill with boiling water until jars are submerged, then boil for 15 minutes.

Allow jars to cool in the pot. Unopened pears will last for up to 1 year. Serve preserved pears in baked tarts or by themselves with a scoop of ice cream.

See here for our Spanish pear tarts with Pedro Ximenez syrup recipe.