Baked Pears with Marsala-Honey Syrup

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Whisk wine, water and honey in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Add orange zest and cinnamon stick. Split vanilla bean, scrape out the sticky black seeds with the tip of a small, sharp knife and add them and the pod to the baking dish. Place the pears cut-side down in the baking dish.

Bake, basting every 15 minutes or so with the wine mixture, until the pears are very tender, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Serve the pears warm, drizzled with the sauce.