Salted Caramel Pear Puffs Food

SALTED CARAMEL PEAR PUFFS

Steps:

• Put 300g of the sugar and the vanilla pod in a narrow, deep saucepan with 1 litre of water. Use a vegetable peeler to pare the zest from the lemon, then drop that in the pan too. Heat gently until the sugar has melted, then bring to a simmer. Meanwhile, juice the lemon and peel the skin from the pears, rubbing with lemon juice as you go, to stop the flesh browning. Carry on peeling until the pears are reduced to a size that only takes up about half of one of the holes of a muffin tin. Put the pears in the pan with the poaching liquid, cover and turn down the heat. Gently poach for about 30 mins until they are really soft - test with a skewer at the widest part. Keep the fruit submerged in the poaching liquid in the fridge until ready to finish the pudding.
• Meanwhile, make a salted caramel sauce by melting the remaining 200g sugar and the butter together in a saucepan. Once the sugar has dissolved, add the cream, bring to the boil and bubble for 2 mins while stirring. Remove from the heat and stir in the salt. Make the batter by whizzing the milk, egg and flour in a food processor or blender until smooth (or whisk by hand). Transfer the batter to a jug. Both can be made up to 24 hrs ahead, just chill until you're ready.
• To finish, heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Divide about ½ tsp sunflower oil between 6 holes of a deep, metal muffin tin. Put in the oven to heat for 10 mins. Trim the base of each pear so they'll sit flat, then dip in some of the caramel sauce and transfer to a plate for a minute for the excess to run off (you can tip this back in with the rest of the sauce).
• Working quickly, sit a pear in each hole of the tin, and pour the batter in and around. Put back in the oven and bake for 16-20 mins until the puffs are risen and golden. Warm the caramel sauce while the puffs are baking, then serve together immediately, with extra cream or crème fraîche.

SALTED CARAMEL PEAR PIE BARS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly spray a 9x13-inch baking pan with baking spray. Line the pan with parchment paper so that there is a 2 inch overhang on the two long sides of the pan. (This makes it easier to lift the pie bars out of the pan after baking.)
• Beat the butter, brown and white sugars, and vanilla extract for crust in a large bowl with an electric mixer until combined and fluffy, 4 to 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the flour and salt; mix at low speed until combined. Refrigerate dough for 10 minutes.
• With lightly moistened hands, press about 2/3 of the crust mixture evenly along the bottom of prepared pan; refrigerate pan for 5 to 7 minutes. Place the remaining 1/3 of the crust mixture in the fridge until needed.
• Bake crust in the preheated oven until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool. Leave the oven on.
• To prepare the filling, toss the pear slices and lemon juice together in a large bowl. Add the brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and salt; toss well to coat. Spread the pears evenly over the crust.
• Tear the reserved crust mixture into small pieces. Using your hands, combine the walnuts with the dough and scatter the mixture evenly over the pears.
• Bake in the preheated oven 1 hour, rotating pan halfway through, until the pears are fork-tender and the topping is golden brown. Cool completely in the pan, 1 to 2 hours.
• To prepare the caramel sauce, combine the sugar and water in a medium, heavy saucepan over medium-low heat; cook, stirring often, until the sugar dissolves.
• Increase the heat to medium-high; bring to a boil-without stirring, but instead, regularly swirling the pan and occasionally brushing down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush. Cook, swirling and brushing regularly, until the syrup turns a deep amber color, 12 to 17 minutes.
• Gently pour in the heavy cream (the caramel will foam and bubbly up vigorously). Add in the butter pieces and stir gently until smooth. Remove the caramel from heat and stir in the salt.
• When ready to serve, use the parchment overhang to lift the slab from the pan and slice into bars. Drizzle with the caramel sauce.