Non Alcoholic substitute for Pear Brandy

[nojunk]

Does anyone have any ideas for pear brandy used to macerate pears in the following recipe?

http://www.chow.com/recipes/13500

The recipe looks wonderful and I just received a big box of Harry & David pears, but one of my Christmas guests can't have alcohol. Thanks!

[visciole]

All the alcohol will be cooked off in this recipe, I think. But, if this would still be a problem for your guest I would try a bit of balsamic vinegar mixed with water.

[bushwickgirl]

Unfortunately, there's always residual alcohol, even after being cooked. Alcohol never fully cooks out. The percentage of residual alcohol is minimal, however.
You can macerate the pears in pear nectar, available in most supermarkets, white grape juice or cider, although you won't get the same flavor effect from the grape or the cider, but there will be no alcohol, and add vanilla, sugar or honey and a bit of lemon juice.

[Cherylptw]

I'd go with a combination of cider with pear nectar and add some rum extract

[hotoynoodle]

not all rum extracts are alcohol free and it tastes entirely different than pear brandy. i think it would overwhelm the pears, honestly.

i'd use pear nectar with some lemon juice to up the acidity. or make a pear tart from another recipe. like this:

http://www.nigella.com/recipe/recipe_...

roasted pears with gorgonzola, walnuts and black pepper make a nice party dish too.

[Cherylptw]

True, must check the alcohol content in the extract, and of course, brandy tastes different than rum but if the OP is looking for a sub, they can't expect it to be exact flavorwise and I don't think the rum variation would overwhelm but rather, compliment it well.

Is there a child attending for dinner the reason why you want to change the recipe? If that's the case, extract will be fine....

[Vetter]

I'd do pear juice and maybe some cider vinegar and lemon to taste. Amp it up with seasonings?

[soupkitten]

champagne vinegar, lemon juice, sugar, drop of almond extract

[hotoynoodle]

there is a viscosity issue here though with the pear brandy,as well as an ethereal flavor and aroma. if the op switches gears on expectations, he/she could just do simple syrup and call it a wash.

[nojunk]

Thanks, everyone for the replies. I think I'm going to use the balsamic vinegar idea, maybe with some pear nectar. It's an adult who can't have the alcohol. The main thing I'm looking for in a substitute is to draw out the pears' juices. I'm not really looking to replace the alcohol flavor, thus don't want to use rum extract. Thanks for all the great ideas!