Chocolate and Pear Recipe - Great British Chefs

Chocolate with coriander and poached pear

Dessert
medium
4
3 hours, plus churning and setting time

PT3H

The fragrance of coriander is paired with the floral notes of pear to create an adventurous chocolate dessert. Use fresh coriander leaves or coriander cress to garnish Steve Drake's impressive chocolatey dessert.

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Ingredients

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Metric

Imperial

Chocolate Marquis

300g of 70% dark chocolate
120ml of olive oil
200g of caster sugar
4 eggs, at room temperature
100g of cocoa powder
600g of double cream, semi-whipped, plus 50g extra to serve

Chocolate sorbet

200g of cocoa powder
500ml of iced water
15g of milk powder
125g of caster sugar
50ml of glucose syrup

Poached pears

750ml of white wine
250g of caster sugar
2 Williams pears, peeled and left whole

Coriander crumb

65g of caster sugar
65g of plain flour
20g of pistachio nut
20g of ground almonds
5g of cornflour
15g of coriander
60g of butter, diced

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Food processor or blender
Bain-marie
Ice cream maker
Thermometer
Fine chinoise

For the chocolate Marquis, combine the chocolate and the olive oil and melt over a bain marie, stirring every so often to emulsify

120ml of olive oil
300g of 70% dark chocolate

Pour the double cream into a large bowl and whisk to very soft peaks. Keep in the fridge until required. Place the sugar into a small saucepan over a low to medium heat. Allow the sugar to melt and gently simmer until it reaches 115˚C

600g of double cream
200g of caster sugar

Meanwhile, place the eggs into a heat proof bowl and have an electric whisk ready. Just before the sugar reaches 115˚C, start to whisk on a high speed, slowly pouring in the hot sugar in a thin steady stream. Continue to whisk until the mix cools to room temperature

4 eggs

Add the cocoa powder to the chocolate and olive oil mixture and whisk to ensure there are no lumps. Fold in 1/2 of the chocolate mixture to the egg/sugar mixture. Add the remaining chocolate

100g of cocoa powder

Carefully fold in a 1/3 of the chocolate mixture to the semi-whipped cream, adding the remaining mixture a third at a time until all incorporated and smooth. Pour the mixture into square silicon moulds, then freeze

600g of double cream

For the chocolate sorbet, combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and place over a low heat. Whisk until thoroughly combined and the sugar and glucose dissolve

500ml of iced water
15g of milk powder
125g of caster sugar
50ml of glucose syrup
200g of cocoa powder

Pass through a fine strainer and allow to cool before churning in an ice-cream machine

For the poached pears, combine the wine and sugar in a small saucepan over a medium heat. Bring to a simmer and stir to dissolve the sugar completely. Add the pears and cover. Cook gently until tender in the centre

750ml of white wine
250g of caster sugar
2 Williams pears

Test this by placing a knife through the centre, if it reaches the middle of the fruit without much force, remove from the heat and allow to cool

For the coriander crumb, blend all the ingredients, except the butter, in a food processor until you are left with a fine powder

65g of caster sugar
65g of plain flour
20g of pistachio nut
20g of ground almonds
5g of cornflour
15g of coriander

Preheat the oven to 150˚C/gas mark 2. Pulse in the butter to form a loose dough and spread onto a lined baking tray. Cook for 12 minutes turning every 4 minutes and roughly breaking up with a fork

60g of butter

Remove from the oven, allow to cool and using your fingers, break up into a crumb. Store in an air tight container until required

To serve, sprinkle the coriander crumb down the centre of the plate, place 3 small squares of the chocolate marquis on top of the crumb with a quenelle of chocolate sorbet in between each square

Place a thin slice of pear on top of the chocolate squares. Place a small dollop of the extra double cream cream on top of each pear slice, followed by a baby coriander leaf. Repeat for each plate and serve

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Steve Drake

Steve Drake started cooking while attending South End Technical College. Only a few years later, he started working his way up the ladder at The Ritz and earned a prestigious Roux Scholarship. Now he cooks at Sorrel, a modern British restaurant in Dorking, Surrey.