Pears poached in rosemary syrup with caramel sauce

Ingredients

4 pears, peeled but left whole
1 lemon, juice only
110g/4oz sugar
sprig of rosemary

For the caramel sauce:
8 tbsp sugar
30g/1oz butter
sprig rosemary
150ml/½ pint double cream

Method

1. Place the pears in a pan large enough to accommodate them comfortably. Add the lemon juice, sugar, sprig of rosemary and enough water to cover the pears.
2. Bring to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer gently until the pears are soft.
3. While the pears are cooking, make the caramel sauce. Tip the sugar into a non-stick pan and heat gently until the sugar is dissolved and caramelised. Do not be tempted to start stirring the sugar until this stage is reached. Add the butter, rosemary and cream and stir well. (Take great care at this stage because the molten sugar is extremely hot and can cause serious burns if it splashes onto your skin).
4. Remove the sauce from the heat and leave to cool. Remove the rosemary sprig before serving.
5. To serve, slice the chilled pears in half lengthways, place in the centre of the plate. Add a scoop of good vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of the caramel sauce.