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Wickham Pears

Peel some large cooking pears, halve them, core them, and make a hollow in the centre of each. Put three-quarters of a pound of sugar into a stewpan with a pint of water and a tea-spoonful of essence of cochineal, and when the syrup comes to the boil put in two or three cloves and the pieces of pear, taking care that they do not touch; simmer very gently until tender, and let them get cold in the syrup. Whilst these are cooking, take two ounces of crystallised cherries and chop them up; then put into a basin half a table-spoonful of cream of rice (see RICE, CREAM), and add gradually the yolks of three eggs beaten up with half a pint of milk; sweeten to taste, and flavour with vanilla. Turn this into a jug and stand it in a saucepan of boiling water, stir till it thickens, then take it off the fire, add the chopped cherries, and, when cold, fill half the pieces of pear with the custard and cover them with the other pieces. Arrange neatly on a dish, reduce the syrup until quite thick, and when nearly cold pour it over the fruit.