Poires Belle-Hélène

Serves: 6

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 40 mins

Total time: 1 hr

Dietary: Contains dairy

Meal type: Dessert

Misc:

Occasion: dinner party

Author: dghchocolatier

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Ingredients

  • 250 g castor sugar
  • 500 ml water
  • 6 pears (Williams, ripe but firm) peeled, stalk and core left intact
  • 1 litre tub vanilla ice cream
  • 40 g broken hazelnuts, toasted (for garnish)
  • 100 ml double cream
  • 50 ml full cream milk
  • 125 g dark chocolate chopped

Method

In a large saucepan, boil the water and sugar to form a syrup.

Peel the pears, leaving the stalk and the core intact.

Ensure the pears are covered by the syrup by placing parchment paper on top and cover with a lid.  Poach in the syrup for about 30 minutes until tender.

Remove the pears from the syrup and finely cut the base flat so that each pear can stand up right without falling over. Chill in the fridge until needed.

Chocolate Sauce:

Heat together the cream and milk over a medium heat until nearly boiling. Place the chocolate into a bowl, pour over the hot cream and stir until the chocolate sauce is smooth.

Assembly:

In each serving dish, serve 2 scoops of ice cream, top with a pear and pour over the sauce.  Garnish with grilled or toasted hazelnuts and serve immediately.