That looks beautiful, too?

One of the best of its kind that I’ve tried, can be in the oven while you’re doing other things, and not in need of the cardamom crumble, which I omitted.

These red-wine roasted pears can be served with vanilla ice cream or Julia’s creme chantilly (see below) and all will be well.

Julia’s Crème Chantilly proportions:

1 C cold heavy cream or whipping cream

½ C powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract (I love Nielson-Massey’s Madagascar)

Optional: Tiny pinch of ground cardamom for this particular pear recipe

A few tips for whipping cream (I’m doing this from memory as I don’t have my Julia books at hand, and hoping I recall all the things!):

• Cream must be COLD. Don’t pull it out of the fridge, get distracted, and then try to whip.
• Whipping cream requires your eyes. Don’t let them wander, even for a few seconds.
• Use a smaller-size metal bowl. I don’t use an ice cube water bath for the bowl, but you could.
• Using a handheld electric mixer, start on low setting. As you see the cream beginning to thicken (maybe after a minute?) add the sugar and vanilla and then continue beating at a lower speed to incorporate for just a few seconds and then gradually increase speed to medium high. (Julia adds the sugar and vanilla at the end, and others add at the beginning, but I like to start with just cream, then add the sugar, etc., and then finish whipping.  Likely, any of these will work.)
• Important: Watch for SOFT peaks which can happen quickly, maybe at minute 3? I stop to pull the beaters out when I think it’s too early.  As soon as you’re seeing those gentle peaks, call it quits and step away from the beaters.  More, and you’ll create a gritty texture on your way to butter.  I know this from experience.  Freshly whipped cream can look ill-formed compared to the canned stuff.  (You’ll never go back.)

I like to make this right before serving.  It only takes a few minutes, and it’s worth having freshly made, particularly if you’ve stored savory goodies in your fridge where the aroma might be picked up by the whipped cream.  For this recipe, you might consider a pinch of ground cardamom in the cream, but it’s not necessary.

Crème Chantilly is great on pumpkin pie, as well.

Or on chocolate pecan pie (with a tiny bit of bourbon mixed into the cream).

Or any pie, really.

Or anything, really.

Let me know if you make it and what extracts and spices you play with.