3-4 pears 6-8 dates 50g walnuts 100g gorgonzola/blue cheese, broken up into chunks 150g rocket leaves
Dressing: half a red onion, very finely chopped 15ml red wine vinegar 15ml Dijon mustard 15ml cold water 45ml olive oil
Slice the pears into 3-4mm thick slices and arrange them on a serving platter, overlapping slightly. Cut the dates into quarters and scatter evenly over the pears. Scatter the walnuts over as well as the blue cheese. Top the salad with the rocket leaves.
For the dressing: Add the onion, vinegar, mustard and water to a small bowl and whisk together. Drizzle in the olive oil while whisking continuously until all is incorporated and the dressing is amalgamated.
3 pears 100g blue cheese 50g walnuts 1 x 400g roll of puff pastry egg wash: 1 egg yolk + 15ml water whisked together 60ml mixed fruit jam 45ml boiling water a handful of basil leaves, chopped
Preheat your oven to 200℃ and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Wash the pears and dry them. Cut a slice from the bottom of each pear so that you have a stable, flat surface. Scoop out the core with a melon baller and set aside. Cut the blue cheese into small pieces and add it to a bowl with the walnuts. Mix together until you have a sticky, messy consistency! Divide the mixture in 3 and stuff it into the pears. Place the pastry on a work surface and cut 3 rounds, more or less the size of the bottom of the pears. Place the pastry over the stuffed opening and then place the pears on the prepared baking sheet. Cut 1cm wide strips from the pastry. Start at the stalk of the pear and wrap the fruit in the pastry strips. Brush with egg wash and bake in the oven until golden – about 20 minutes. Add the fruit jam, boiling water and chopped basil to a small bowl and stir until the jam breaks up into a thin sauce. Serve the pears warm with the sauce on the side.
1,5litres water 60ml lemon juice a small bunch of thyme, tied together with string 6 small pears 500ml greek yoghurt 200ml honey a handful of pistachio nuts, chopped
Prepare your poaching liquid by adding the water, lemon juice and thyme to a saucepan that is just big enough for the pears to fit in. Peel the pears and place them, standing upright, into the liquid. Add more water if the pears are not immersed in the liquid. Bring the poaching liquid to a boil and reduce the heat to a low simmer. Cover the saucepan with a lid and simmer for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and stand the pears in the liquid for another 20 minutes. Scoop the yoghurt onto 6 plates/bowls and place a pear on top. Drizzle the honey over each fruit and scatter the pistachio on top. Serve warm or cold.
1 egg 62ml sugar 125ml milk 15ml melted butter 250ml flour 10ml baking powder 1ml salt 3 pears, cut into 0,5cm thick slices 250ml mascarpone cream, room temperature 80ml syrup
Add the egg and sugar to a mixing bowl and whisk together. Pour about half the milk and all of the melted butter into the bowl and whisk until amalgamated. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the bowl and whisk again. Now gradually add the rest of the milk and whisk to form a silky smooth batter. Place a non-stick pan on medium-high heat, add a splash of vegetable oil and fry spoonfuls of the batter until golden. Flip the flapjack after three minutes and cook for another minute or so. Add a small knob of butter to the pan and fry the sliced pear over high heat until slightly charred. Build a stack by layering a flapjack, slice of pear, dollop of mascarpone and then repeat twice more. Drizzle the syrup over and serve.
This is a heavenly combination of salty halloumi, sweet and spicy fruit and fabulous fresh basil!
2 pears 30ml lemon juice 60ml brown sugar 2,5ml ground cinnamon 30g butter, cubed 2 x 300g blocks Halloumi cheese 1 x 230g Dulce del Cabo sculpted fruit preserve (or 230g fruit preserve of your choice) a handful of small basil leaves
Preheat your oven to 180℃ and line a small baking tray with baking paper. Halve the pears and remove the core. Place the pears, cut-side up on the prepared baking tray and drizzle with lemon juice. Sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon on the fruit and place a piece of cubed butter on each. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, flip them over and bake for another 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside. Turn your oven on the grill setting. Score the halloumi, without cutting through, in a diamond pattern – about 2cm deep. Place both blocks of cheese on a lined baking sheet and drizzle over some vegetable oil. Place the cheese under the hot grill until browned and slightly scorched. (about 8 minutes, depending on your oven) Cut the fruit preserve into pieces and add to a small saucepan set over medium-low heat. Pour in 60ml of water and stir until melted. Place the halloumi on a serving platter and arrange the pear around it. Drizzle over the fruit preserve and scatter with basil leaves. Serve with a crusty bread.
This is a rich, thick, dark and indulgent chocolate sauce where the wine is the star of the show. Choose a wine you enjoy drinking … I use a good, full bodied Merlot, but the choice is yours.
750ml red wine (Merlot) 250ml water 10ml vanilla 250ml sugar 2 slices orange peel 2 star anise 4 cloves 1 cinnamon quill 6 firm, ripe pears
Select a saucepan that is large enough for the pears to fir snugly but still be submerged in the liquid, even if they have to lie flat. Add all the ingredients, except the pears, to the saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer while stirring to dissolve the sugar. Now peel the pears and gently lower them into the poaching liquid. Turn the heat down to medium-low and poach the pears for 25 minutes. Rotate each pear every 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow the fruit to cool in the liquid. Remove the pears from the liquid once it is room temperature. Strain the mixture through a sieve but reserve the poaching liquid.
Chocolate and Red Wine Sauce: 190ml cream 190ml poaching liquid from the pears 15ml cocoa powder 125ml sugar 240g chocolate, chopped 60g butter, cubed a pinch of salt
Add the cream, poaching liquid, sifted cocoa powder and sugar to a small saucepan. Set the saucepan over medium heat and stir to dissolve the sugar. Bring the mixture to a simmer and whisk for 5 minutes while simmering. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Add the chopped chocolate, butter and pinch of salt and whisk until smooth. (If the sauce cools and becomes too thick, thin it down by gently reheating it). Place the pears on a serving dish and pour over some chocolate sauce to serve.
Chocolate and pear is a match made in heaven and with this delicious chocolate pastry as a base, few desserts will be able to compare to this tart!
Poached pears: 3 ripe pears 750ml water 250ml sugar 15ml lemon juice
Chocolate pastry: 80g dark chocolate, at least 70% cocoa 175g butter, cubed 230g caster sugar 4 egg yolks 10ml vanilla 15ml milk 50g cocoa powder 350g cake flour
Chocolate frangipane: 120g dark chocolate, at least 70% cocoa 120g butter, cubed 120g caster sugar 5ml vanilla 2 eggs 125g ground almonds 25g flour
Poaching the pears: Pour the water into a small saucepan and add the sugar and lemon juice. Turn the heat on to medium and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Peel, halve and core the pears and add to the poaching liquid. Cut a square of baking paper that is large enough to cover the saucepan. Scrunch the paper up and then slide it down into the saucepan until it touches the poaching liquid. Bring the poaching liquid to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer gently until a wooden skewer can easily be inserted into the pear quarters. Turn off the heat and allow the fruit to cool in the poaching liquid. Remove the pear once it has cooled and keep aside. Simmer the poaching liquid until it reduces to a syrup. Reserve this to glaze the tart with once it comes from the oven.
For the chocolate pastry: Chop and melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, making sure that the bottom of the bowl is not in contact with the water. Stir until silky smooth and completely melted. Take the bowl from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Add the cubed butter, sugar, egg yolks, vanilla and milk to the bowl of a food processor and blitz together. Pour in the slightly cooled chocolate and pulse to blend in. Sift the cocoa powder and flour into the chocolate mixture and blitz until the mixture comes together in a smooth ball of pastry. Wrap the pastry with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for one hour.
Lightly spray a tart tin with baking spray. Roll the pastry to a thickness of 3mm and line the baking tin on the bottom and sides. Place the pastry case into the freezer for 1 hour.
Preheat your oven to 180℃. Line the pastry case with baking paper and baking beans and bake for 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.
For the chocolate frangipane: Keep your oven on 180℃. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, making sure that the bottom of the bowl is not in contact with the water. Stir until completely melted. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly. Add the butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and the eggs and beat together, scraping down once or twice, until well blended. Add the almonds and flour and fold into the egg mixture with a spatula. Pour in the melted chocolate and stir once again to incorporate, with the spatula. Spread the frangipane mixture onto the baked pastry case. Slice the pears and position each sliced half onto the chocolate frangipane, spacing it so that there is enough space for all of the pear. Bake the tart for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush the reduced poaching liquid (syrup) onto the warm tart. Allow to cool in the baking mould. Serve with a sprinkling of icing sugar or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
My Whisk and I 