In a small sauce pan mix together wine, sugar, honey and spices, bring to a boil. Once the wine mixture is boiling, turn heat down to a simmer and add the pears. Simmer pears for about 30-40 min, until they are tender, turn pears from time to time. Remove pears and let them cool. Preheat oven to 380 F. Cut the pastry into strips, splice at the ends to make two long strips about 22-24 inches each. Place pears on on a baking sheet, covered with parchament paper. Wrap the pears with the pastry stripes from bottom to the top. Brush with a lightly beaten egg. Bake about 15-20 min, until golden brown. Serve with a remaining syrup.

Pour the milk into a small saucepan, add the vanilla pod cut in half. Bring almost to a boil, then leave to cool for 15-20 minutes, so the flavour of the vanilla can infuse into the milk. Then remove the pod. Leave milk to cool. Whisk the egg yolks with sugar. Pour in the warm milk, cook over a low heat.  Add the diced butter. Stirring constantly with whisk, about 10-15 minutes. Custard should thicken until creamy. Strain through a strainer into a bowl and let cool at room temperature. You can keep your curd a couple of days in the refrigerator.