When to Serve It

Serve for dessert on a hot summer day. It's refreshing as well as sweet and delicious. Best of all, it requires no cooking and can be made hours in advance and assembled right before serving.

About the Cheese

What is Mascarpone?
Mascarpone, also referred to as Italian Cream Cheese, is technically not a cheese at all because no rennet is used to separate the curd (milk's solid component) from the whey (milk's liquid component). Mascarpone is simply cream that has bacteria cultures added and then is heated to create that thick, rich, creamy, sweet scoop of heaven. Its sweetness comes from the natural sugars in the cream.

Give Mascarpone Its Due
As I've said before, Mascarpone is one of the great mispronounced and underutilized cheeses in the world. First, the proper pronunciation is, "mah-scar-POH-nay". Second, you don't have to be making Tiramisu to use Mascarpone! I keep a tub in my refrigerator at all times. It is unbelievable on toast or fresh berries. Enjoy cream in your coffee? Try Mascarpone instead. Finally, drop a dollop into any sauce if you'd like to add rich creaminess without diluting it.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

3/4 lb. Mascarpone
1/4 cup hazelnut liqueur (optional)
1 lemon
4 quarts water
3 tsp. mint, fresh, minced
4 pears, Anjou or Bartlett
8 walnut halves
4 sprigs mint, fresh

Directions

1) Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice into the 4 quarts of water and add the two lemon halves to the water.
2) Peel, halve, and core the pears and place them into the lemon water and refrigerate.
3) In a mixing bowl, beat the Mascarpone, hazelnut liqueur, and minced mint together until smooth.
4) When ready to serve dessert, drain the lemon water from the pears and arrange the pears on individual dessert plates.
You might find that the pears slip around to a dangerous degree once placed on a flat plate. To remedy this, put two small dollops of the Mascarpone mixture on each plate and place the pear halves on it - it's a delicious "glue".
5) Top each pear half with 3 tablespoons of the Mascarpone mixture.
6) Garnish with 2 walnut halves each and a sprig of fresh mint.