makes
6
prep
40 minutes
cook
50 minutes
difficulty
Mid
makes
6
serves
preparation
40
minutes
cooking
50
minutes
difficulty
Mid
level
Ingredients
Ginger chocolate ganache
- 480 g good-quality milk chocolate
- 240 ml fresh cream
- 15 g liquid glucose
- 30 g ginger juice (squeezed from grated ginger)
- pinch ground ginger
- pinch sea salt
- 70 g unsalted butter
Poached pears
- 6 firm, ripe pears
- 750 ml bottle Moscato wine, or other sweet dessert wine
- 400 g caster sugar
- 400 ml water
- 1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
- 2 tbsp honey
- 2 cm piece fresh ginger, peeled, and finely chopped
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
Chocolate nest
- 200 g good-quality white chocolate
Resting time: 5 hours
You will need a piece of granite or marble for this recipe, placed in the freezer for 8 hours-overnight before use.
Instructions
1. To make the ginger chocolate ganache, place milk chocolate in a mixing bowl. Boil the cream, glucose, ginger juice, ground ginger and salt in a saucepan. Pour it over the milk chocolate and whisk together to combine.
2. Place cling wrap on the surface of the bowl, touching the ganache, and leave at room temperature for 5 hours to firm.
3. To make the poached pears, peel the pears and leave the stem on. To create a smooth finish, rub the exterior of the pear with a scourer.
4. In a saucepan large enough to hold all the pears, combine the wine, sugar and water, cinnamon stick halves, honey, ginger and vanilla over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until the honey has melted.
5. Add the pears, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 25-30 minutes (if the pears are small reduce the cooking time by 5 minutes), turning occasionally, until the pears are tender. Remove the pears from the liquid and allow to cool completely. These can be stored in the fridge while you finish the other preparation.
6. To make the chocolate nest, place a piece of granite or marble in the freezer, preferably overnight. Melt the chocolate in a plastic bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between each application of heat until just melted. Place the chocolate in ziplock bag or a paper piping cone and cut a small amount off the tip.
7. Remove the frozen stone from the freezer and place it on a tea towel on the bench. Pipe lines of chocolate onto the surface of the frozen stone. Lift the lines of piped chocolate and twist them to create a nest to fit the base of the pear. Leave on the cold stone for up to 10 minutes.
8. To assemble, cut out the cores of the pears from their base. Place half of the firm ganache in a piping bag with a plain round piping nozzle and fill the cavity in the base of the pears with ganache. Place the pears back in the fridge.
9. In a bowl, melt the remainder of the glaze in the microwave stirring at regular intervals. Place the pears on a cake cooling rack with a lined tray underneath. Glaze each pear with the heated ganache and leave on the rack until they stop dripping.
10. Place the chocolate nest on a plate and place the pear directly on top just prior to serving.
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
