Poached Pears with White Chocolate Cream
This dessert of poached pears with a nice chocolate cream is a perfect treat for a Christmas lunch or any other occassion. It is so light and tasty that you will wanna make it again and again.
What I love about this recipe is that everything can be made the day before so that all you have to do ‘on the day’ is plate it up. Perfect if you are entertaining. The white chocolate cream and brandy snap tuiles just finish it off nicely.
Make your own Mascarpone
For the perfect, fancy dessert you can make your own Mascarpone cream! It is easy, try it out.
Perfect!
Poached pears with white chocolate cream
Equipment
- Cooking pot
- Baking tray
- Baking parchment
Ingredients
- 1 vanilla pod
- 1 bottle red wine
- 200 g caster sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 6 pears firm
Brandy Snap Tuiles
- 30 g butter
- 25 g caster sugar
- 1 tblsp syrup
- 25 ml brandy
- 30 g plain flour sifted
White Chocolate Cream
- 50 g white chocolate
- 125 ml double cream lightly whipped
- 125 g mascarpone
- ½ tblsp icing sugar sifted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 170°C (325°F).
- Halve the vanilla pod lengthways, scrape out the seeds and place them in a pan together with the red wine, caster sugar and cinnamon stick.
- Slice the vanilla pod into three long pieces and add to the pan. Peel the pears, trying to keep as much of the shape as possible and leave the stalk intact.
- Lower the pears into the red wine mixture.
- Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer and poach the pears, covered for 20 – 30 minutes. The pears are ready when they are tender all the way through.
- Remove the pears from the pan and continue to gently boil the red wine syrup until the mixture has reduced by half and has turned syrupy.
- The pears may be stored for up to two days if kept in the syrup in the refrigerator.
To make the Brandy Snap Tuiles
- Melt the butter, sugar and syrup in a pan until the sugar has dissolved. Cool slightly.
- Gradually beat in the brandy and flour until the mixture is smooth.
- Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
- Using a teaspoon, drop spoonfulls of mixture on to the baking tray.
- Bake for 8 – 10 minutes.
- Use a metal spatula to remove the biscuits from the tray and place over a small bottle (spice bottles are perfect size) to shape into a tuile. If the biscuits start to harden on the tray just pop your tray back into the hot oven for a couple of seconds and they will soften again.
- Store the brandy snap tuiles in an airtight container.
To make the white chocolate cream
- Melt your white chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water.
- Allow to cool slightly and then stir in the cream.
- Add the mascarpone and icing sugar and mix until well combined.
- Store the chocolate cream in the refrigerator.
To assemble
- Bring the pears back to room temperature.
- Place a pear on each plate and spoon some of the red wine syrup over each pear.
- Spoon some of the white chocolate cream into a brandy snap tuile and dust with cinnamon powder.
- Serve with the poached pears.