Tender pears are made into a rich dessert with the addition of chocolate sauce.
Ingredients
- 4 pears
- 1 lemon
- 3 cardamom pods, lightly crushed (optional)
- 70g caster sugar
For the chocolate sauce:
- 75g chocolate, 62% cocoa solids
- 175ml warm syrup
- ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract or 1 tablespoon rum
For the syrup:
- 450g granulated sugar
- 600ml water
Method
- Peel the pears with a vegetable peeler and half each one neatly from top to bottom to attain eight halves. Remove the cores and any tough fibres - I use a melon-baller for this exercise, though a sharp teaspoon also works.
- Place the pears into a heavy saucepan into which they fit quite snugly. Peel four thin strips off the lemon and add to the pears along with all of the juice from the lemon.
- Sprinkle on the caster sugar and the lightly crushed cardamom pods if using.
- Cover with a sheet of parchment paper and a tight fitting lid and cook over a very low heat until the pears are tender. This takes about 30 minutes but the time will vary according to the ripeness of the pears used.
- Allow the cooked pears to cool completely. These pears can be cooked ahead of time and refrigerated.
For the chocolate sauce:
Melt the chocolate in a pyrex bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Remove the bowl and whisk in the warm syrup and flavouring of choice.
For the syrup:
Place the sugar and water in a saucepan and bring slowly to the boil. Stir several times as it comes to the boil to encourage the sugar to dissolve. Allow to boil for two minutes. Cool and store covered in the fridge. It keeps for several weeks.
