The wonderfully convenient French Bistro, Orsay, had a pear Tom Collins.  I happened to buy half a dozen pears at the greenmarket this weekend so here is my attempt to dissect and replicate.

Pear Tom Collins

2 oz Pear Puree

2 oz Clove Infused Simple Syrup

2 oz Gin

2 oz Champagne

4 oz Club Soda

2 Sprigs of Rosemary

A Squeeze of Lemon Juice

I know that bar tending should be done in ounces but I have tons of cups in my kitchen so this recipe worked for me by using a one-half of a cup of the booze, one-half of a cup of the sweet component and one-half of a cup of club soda.  Take your simple syrup and add 3 or 4 cloves, heat until there are small bubbles and then set aside to steep as you assemble the rest of the cocktail.  I pureed in a food processor one whole, very ripe pear, but only used about one-half of the pear per cocktail.  I added a squeeze of lemon to the pear puree before blending the ingredients together.  Make sure the pears are very ripe and it will make you life a lot easier.  Poaching the pears in simple syrup first makes for a smoother cocktail and, although it takes 10-15 extra minutes, its worth the extra effort.

Taking into account how ripe and sweet your pears, are mix in the clove infused simple syrup with the pear puree to taste.  My pears were sweet so my ratio of pear puree to simple syrup was approximately 3 ounces to 1 ounce.

Add in ice, 4 ounces of club soda and 2 ounces of gin; stir until all ingredients are well incorporated.  Pour the 2 ounces of Champagne on top as a floater.  Clap the rosemary between your hands to release the oils and garnish.

The rosemary, clove and pear make for the perfect seasonal flavors and a good foil for the gin so don’t worry if you are ‘not a gin person’.