Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
 

*Ideally, choose a Spanish or Mediterranean wine with more tannins that will give a nice deep color to the pears.

1. Bring the wine to a boil in a saucepan with the sugar, vanillla, cinnamon and star anise; reduce the heat and simmer.
2. Carefully peel the pears and cook in the wine for 10 minutes.
3. Turn off the heat and let the pears sit in the liquid for 10 minutes longer.
4. In the meantime, cut 4 1-cm thick (3/8") slices of pound cake and trim the edges to form a nice square; in the center of each one place 1/2 tsp. honey.
5. Then cut 4 rounds of blue cheese with a cookie cutter and place them on the honey in the center of the pound cake slices.
6. Finally, slice the pears thinly and place a few slices on the cheese, showing off their nice pink color.
7. Decorate with a few drops of balsamic reduction.