Remove the cores from the pears with an apple corer, leaving a 2-3 cm cavity for the fruit stuffing. Line a baking dish large enough to fit the pears fairly snugly with baking paper.
Preheat the oven to 190C/ 170C F/Gas 5.
Chop the dates, banana and dried mango or other fruit into roughly 1cm pieces. Put in a bowl and combine with the walnuts, half the brown sugar and the five-spice. Spoon the mixture into the pear cavities, pushing it in with the end of a wooden spoon so it fills the cavity. Put the stuffed pears in the prepared baking dish, scatter the star anise around the base and pour half the apple juice over and around the pears.
Sprinkle the remaining brown sugar over the pears, cover tightly with foil and bake. After 30 minutes, remove the foil and bake for a further 1 hour, basting every 20 minutes or so, until the pears wrinkle, turn deep goldenbrown and a skewer goes through without any resistance (add more apple juice if needed to stop them drying out). The juice should turn amber and be syrupy. Spoon the syrup over to serve with the yoghurt or cream.
Recipes and photographs taken from ‘Baking and the Meaning of Life’ by Helen Goa, photography by Laura Edwards (Murdoch Books, £26)
