

Cardamom Pear Compote over Vanilla Tapioca with Meringue and Pistachio
Ingredients
- For the vanilla tapioca:
- 2/3 cup large tapioca pearls
- 2 cups of water
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cup almond milk
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
- For the pear compote:
- 4 firm, but ripe pears, peeled, halved, cored, cut into thick slices
- 1 1/5 cup water (or for the adult version you can use sweet white wine)
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom pods
- 2 cloves
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp allspice berries
- lemon zest from 1/2 lemon
- For the meringue:
- 4 egg whites
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup pistachio, crushed
Instructions
Prepare the vanilla tapioca:
In a medium bowl, soak the tapioca pearls in the water for an hour. Drain and discard the water. In a large saucepan set over medium heat, bring the tapioca, milk, almond milk, honey and cardamom to a boil. Scrape seeds from the vanilla bean into saucepan; add bean. Lower the heat and simmer 20-25 minutes or until the tapioca looks translucent. Remove from the heat, discard vanilla bean and place a piece of plastic wrap right on top to prevent a skin from forming as it cools.
Prepare the pear compote:
Combine water, sugar, lemon zest, cardamom, allspice berries and cloves in a heavy large saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to boil. Add pears and simmer until tender, about 7 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer pears to a medium bowl. Boil liquid in saucepan until slightly thickened and syrupy, about 15 minutes. Pour over pears.
Prepare the meringue:
Preheat an oven to 275°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a bowl, combine the egg whites and sugar. Place over simmering water and whisk until the mixture is hot, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer the bowl to a mixer and beat on high speed until stiff peaks form and the mixture is lukewarm 4 to 5 minutes. Using a soup spoon, drop the batter in large mounds spaced 1 1/2 to 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Sprinkle with pistachio. Bake until crunchy outside and still chewy inside, 35 to 40 minutes. Transfer the pans to a wire rack and cool completely before removing the cookies from the parchment.
When ready to serve the dessert, spoon the tapioca into the bottom of each of 6 glasses, dividing it evenly. When the pear compote is cool, divide it in between the serving glasses on top of the tapioca. Top with meringue cookies.
Bon appetite!!!


7 Comments
Medeja
September 6, 2012 at 10:51 pmAnother great luxurious looking dessert!
The Roasted Root
September 8, 2012 at 1:38 pmI haven't had tapioca pudding in forever! I've always loved it and your recipe with the pear compote sounds like such a unique and fun treat!
Spicie Foodie
September 9, 2012 at 2:52 pmWhat a beautiful and delicous looking dessert. Cardamom and pear are one of my favorite combinations. I just know that all the other ingredients compliment them well. Thanks for sharing Yelena:)
Marina
September 9, 2012 at 8:05 pmThat sounds fantastic! Airy meringue, a little crunchy pears and pistachio: mmm, flavor made in heaven! 🙂
Rebecca Subbiah
September 12, 2012 at 2:29 amwow now this is how to make potatoes
Nami | Just One Cookbook
September 12, 2012 at 5:43 amYou make everything delicious, and then take all the food so deliciously! Your photos definitely cheer me up even when I don't feel so well. Thank you for the yummy recipe – wish I can eat it!
marla {Family Fresh Cooking}
September 14, 2012 at 1:39 pmLove this recipe! Will be linking back to this in my upcoming post 🙂