Poached Pear Cake With Marzipan Food

SUPER MOIST PEAR CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 F.
• Peel and slice the Pears.
• In an electric mixer bowl, whip up the sugar and butter until well combined for about 1 minute.
• Add in the vanilla, lemon zest and eggs. Continue mixing on high speed for 1-2 minutes until they are well combined.
• Add in the baking powder, sifted flour and a pinch of salt. Mix again for about 1 minute. Gradually add ½ cup of milk and ⅓ cup oil while mixing on low speed. Mix for another minute or two on low speed.
• Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and grease or spray a round spring foam baking pan then pour the batter in. Ideally, a 10 x 3 inch deep pan is the best size.
• After placing the batter in your pan, spread a layer of the sliced pears to cover the whole batter. Sprinkle some cinnamon and the brown sugar on top of the pears.
• Bake in a pre-heated 350 F oven for 40 minutes then lay over an aluminum foil wrap on top to cover the cake and bake for another 10-15 minutes depending on your oven. Insert a wooden skewer to make sure it's completely clean before removing the cake. It may take less or a bit more time depending on your oven.
• Remove the cake from the oven and cover with a kitchen towel to let it cool down. It may take up to 1 hour to completely cool down. Dust with some confectioner sugar right before serving.

VANILLA POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• Place the white wine, water, sugar and vanilla bean and pulp into a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil.
• Core the pears from the bottom. Decrease the heat to medium low and place the pears into the liquid, cover and cook for 30 minutes or until the pears are tender but not falling apart. Maintain a gentle simmer. Remove the pears to a serving dish, standing them upright, and place in the refrigerator.
• Remove the vanilla bean from the saucepan, increase the heat to high and reduce the syrup to approximately 1 cup of liquid, approximately 20 to 25 minutes. Do not allow the syrup to turn brown. Place the syrup in a heatproof container and place in the refrigerator until cool, approximately 1 hour.
• Remove the pears from the refrigerator, spoon the sauce over the pears and serve.

POACHED PEARS IN RED CURRANT SAUCE WITH CHOCOLATE DECADENCE CAKE

Steps:

• Sift together flour, baking soda, sugar, and cocoa powder. Place into mixing bowl.
• Put butter, oil, and water into a pot and melt over medium heat.
• When butter has melted, pour into dry ingredients and mix on low speed until incorporated.
• Then mix on medium speed while adding eggs, 1 at a time, and then sour cream. Continue to mix only until incorporated. Pour batter into greased and papered sheet pan (8 inch by 12 inch). Bake in a preheated 375-degree F oven until firm to touch and releases from sides of the pan. Cool. Then invert onto back of another pan or onto a pastry or cutting board.
• Take a round cutter, 1/2-inch-in-diameter larger than the base of the pear. Cut out cake circles. (Save rest of cake as snacks, cut into squares and dust with powdered sugar.)
• Place cream in pan, place over medium high heat. Bring just to a boil. Remove immediately from stove. Pour in chopped chocolate. Stir until all chocolate pieces are melted. Cool slightly. Place cake circles on cooling rack placed on top of a pan (to catch drippings). Pour glaze over cakes, being careful to fully cover top and sides.
• Place in refrigerator to harden. Once set, take spatula and carefully remove circles. Place on papered sheet pan. Roll out marzipan and cut it into a 3/4-inch wide strip. Cut a decorative design on 1 side (like waves or triangles). Wrap the strip, straight side on the bottom around the base of each glazed cake circle.
• Place cake circle in center of dessert plate. Pour reduced cool sauce around cake enough to coat plate nicely. Place Dipped Poached Pear in center on top of cake. If desired, take edible gold leaf and place in increments around cake on sauce.
• Mix together puree, liqueur, and sugar. Pour into saucepan. Set aside.
• Peel pears, core out from bottom of pear using melon baller. Careful not to break or split the sides of the pear. Slice bottom of pear, to enable pear to stand straight up. Place pears standing up in puree mixture. Bring to boil, reduce heat to a simmer. Cover with aluminum foil, poach until tender, approximately 8 to 10 minutes, depending on ripeness of pears.
• Remove pears from liquid and place on cooling rack. Remove poaching liquid from stove and cool.
• Once liquid is cold, place pears back into liquid and store, covered in refrigerator over night.
• Remove pears from liquid (reserve liquid for later use). Place on cooling rack to drain.
• Melt chocolate in bowl over a pan of simmering water. Once pears have drained, pat dry, and dip into the melted chocolate, approximately 1-inch up base of pear. Place on waxed paper to set chocolate.
• Place cooking liquid back into a saucepan, and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Continue to simmer, reducing liquid to sauce consistency. Remove from stove and cool.