It’s National Pears Hélène Day! 🍐 This French classic looks like it belongs in a 5-star hotel, but you can make it in 20 minutes.
Ingredients:
- 4 Firm Bosc or Williams pears 🍐
- 1 liter (4 cups) Water 💧
- 200g (1 cup) Sugar 🍬
- 1 tsp (5ml) Vanilla extract 🍦
- 1 Lemon (juice only) 🍋
- 100g (3.5 oz) Dark chocolate 🍫
- 60ml (1/4 cup) Heavy cream 🥛
- 4 scoops Vanilla ice cream 🍨
- Sliced almonds for crunch 🥜
Step-by-Step Instructions:
- Peel the pears but keep the stems on for a beautiful look.
- Slice a tiny bit off the bottom so the pears can stand up straight.
- In a pot, boil water, sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice.
- Place the pears in the simmering liquid for 15 minutes.
- They should look translucent and feel soft when a knife goes in.
- Let them cool down in the sweet syrup.
- For the sauce, melt the chocolate and cream together in a bowl over hot water.
- Stir until the sauce is thick, shiny, and smooth.
- Place a scoop of ice cream in a bowl, stand the pear on top.
- Drizzle the warm chocolate sauce so it coats the pear perfectly.
Secret Tip: Let the pears cool completely in the poaching liquid. They will soak up all the vanilla sweetness and become much more flavorful.