Spiced poached pears with hot chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream

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Adam Gray adds a little drama to his dessert of poached pears, with a decadent poaching syrup of dessert wine, orange juice, star anise and vanilla, and a final sugar coating which is caramelised with a blow torch. Served with a rich chocolate sauce and a scoop of ice cream, this would make a stunning Autumnal dish.

First published in 2015

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Poached pears

Chocolate sauce

Equipment

  • Blow torch

Method

1
To start the poached pears, peel and core the pears, rubbing the flesh with a little of the lemon juice to prevent them from browning
2
Combine the sweet wine, orange and lemon juices, caster sugar, star anise and vanilla in a large, heavy-based saucepan and place over a low heat, stirring gently for 3-4 minutes, until the sugar dissolves
3
Add the pears to the saucepan and cover with a disc of crumbled greaseproof paper, then the lid. Bring to the boil and simmer for no more than 5 minutes
4
Remove the pan from the heat and leave the pears in the liquid until they are just warm
5
To make the chocolate sauce, combine the sugar, cocoa powder and water in a heavy-based saucepan and bring to the boil, whisking until smooth
6
Simmer gently for 5 minutes, whisking occasionally, then remove from the heat
7
Chop the chocolate and add each piece one at a time to the sauce, stirring continuously until all the chocolate has melted and the sauce is smooth
8
Remove the poached pears from the cooking liquor and place on kitchen paper or a clean cloth to drain. Trim the base of each pear a little so they are able to sit upright
9
Roll the pear lightly in caster sugar until completely covered then caramelize the sugar with a blowtorch
  • caster sugar for dusting
10
To serve, sit a poached pear upright in each serving dish. Place a ball or scoop of ice cream next to it and pour the hot chocolate sauce around. Serve with more hot chocolate sauce on the side
First published in 2015

Adam Gray pulls off classic British flavours with grace, intelligence and admirable lightness of touch.

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