Baked Pears

A historical recipe from Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches, by Eliza Leslie (1840).

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A historical recipe

Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches, by Eliza Leslie (1840). Project Gutenberg eBook #9624.

From an old book: a historical recipe, not current advice. Its methods, additives and storage may be unsafe by today's standards.

Ingredients 2 ingredients

Keep children and pets away from the hob and the oven, and keep oven gloves and a lid within reach.

Oven and hot trays. Use dry oven gloves for trays and dishes: a hot tray looks just like a cold one. Open the oven door away from your face and let the first rush of heat out.
Sharp knives. Cut on a board that doesn't slip (a damp cloth under it helps), and curl the fingers of the hand that holds the food.

The best for baking are the large late ones, commonly called pound pears.
Pare them, cut them in half, and take out the cores.
Lay them in a deep white dish, with a thin slip of fresh lemon-peel in the place from which each core was taken.
Sprinkle them with sugar, and strew some whole cloves or some powdered cinnamon-among them.
Pour into the dish some port wine.
To a dozen large pears you may allow half a pound of sugar, and a pint of wine.
Cover the dish, with a large sheet of brown paper tied on;
set it in a moderate oven, and let them bake till tender all through which you may ascertain by sticking a broom twig through them.
They will he done in about an hour, or they may probably require more time;
but you must not let them remain long enough in the oven, to break or fall to pieces.
When cool, put them up in a stone jar.
In cold weather they will keep a week.