Sweet Chocolate Pears Food

BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE AND PEAR TART

Steps:

• Whisk together the melted butter, sugar and salt. Add flour and ground almonds and stir until it feels like damp sand. Press dough evenly along bottom and halfway up the sides of an 8-inch round tart pan with a removable bottom. Use waxed paper or buttered fingers to even out and press dough tightly into the corners. Prick crust all over with a fork and chill while you preheat oven to 350 degrees about 30 minutes. Set pan on a baking sheet and bake until crust is golden brown, about 25 minutes.
• While crust bakes, bring milk, agave and salt to a simmer in a medium saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat and pour over chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Let it sit for about 2 minutes without stirring. Starting in the middle of bowl, whisk chocolate together until evenly melted and the mixture a smooth and shiny dark brown.
• Fan pear slices around bottom of the tart shell in one even layer. Whisk beaten egg into the chocolate filling and pour filling over pears and crust. Decrease oven temperature to 300 degrees and return tart to oven; bake until filling is set but still a little wiggly in the center third, about 15 minutes. Remove and cool tart completely on a rack at room temperature. Remove tart from pan sides and carefully transfer to a platter. Slice and serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

PEARS COVERED WITH CHOCOLATE

Steps:

• In a saucepan over medium heat, stir together the water and sugar. Bring to a boil. Add the pears, and cook for about 5 minutes. Remove pears and set them on a plate.
• In a metal bowl over simmering water, or in the microwave, melt chocolate, stirring frequently until smooth. Remove from heat. Spoon chocolate over pears to coat. Remove pears to a clean plate, and chill until serving. Serve cold.

PEARS WITH CHOCOLATE SAUCE

Steps:

• Peel the pears, leaving the stalks intact, then take the core out from the bottom of each by using a small sharp knife or a melon baller. Flatten the bottom by slicing off a little bit so that it will sit upright when served. Put the pears into a saucepan with the zests, vanilla pod, sugar, cinnamon, white wine and 600ml water, then bring to the boil. Lower the heat and poach for about 20-25 mins until they are cooked all the way through, but are not so soft that they will fall apart. Leave to cool in the liquid. Can be made and chilled a day ahead.
• When cool, take the pears out, strain out the cinnamon, zest and vanilla pod (keep the pod, allow it to dry, then pop it into a jar of sugar to make vanilla sugar), then pour the syrup back in the pan. Boil until reduced by half to a thin syrup.
• Meanwhile, to make the sauce, melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Warm the cream, milk and butter in a heavy based pan. Stir this into the melted chocolate, set aside and keep warm. Can be made and chilled a day ahead. If the sauce cools and thickens too much, warm it again gently over a pan of simmering water or for 30 secs in a microwave. Serve the pears with plenty of syrup, chocolate sauce and good-quality vanilla ice cream.

CHOCOLATE PEAR CRISP

Steps:

• Heat oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Chop the pears into small pieces and put in a pan with the lemon juice and sugar. Bring to the boil, then cover and cook for 10 mins. Uncover, then cook for 8-10 mins more until the juices thicken up. Spoon into 4 x 150ml ramekins and add a teaspoon of liqueur to each, if using.
• For the topping, sift the icing sugar and cocoa into a bowl, then stir in the almonds. Whisk the egg white until stiff, then fold into the dry ingredients. Spoon over the pears and shake the ramekins to level the mixture. Bake for 20-25 mins until the topping is firm to the touch. Serve warm or cold.