Red wine and honey poached pears in puff pastry

1. Bring wine, water, sugar, honey, cinnamon and star anise to the boil.

2. stir until sugar has desolved then bring it down to gentle simmer

3. place peeled pears into liquid, ensuring they are completely covered. allow to poach gently until tender but still firm enough to hold their shape about 20-25min

4. let pears cool down in liquid for about 30min

5. preheat oven to 200C

6. drain pears on paper towel

7. cut pastry into1,5cm strips

8. cover pears with strips of pastry by following their natural shape, start at top and work your way down in spiral motion, if strip is too short, add more by pressing a new one down to the edge of existing strip

9. brush whisked egg onto pastry and bake for 20-25min