Pears and chocolate pie

l Switch language for recipe in French l

I ‘m not really a fan of pears but when it comes to eating pears on a sweet almond pastry, covered with custard and crunchy chocolate then I say YES! That’s being greedy! My pears come from a local producer with the basket of fruit and vegetables that I regularly take each week. One way to have to cook fruits and vegetables that are not common, or that you aren’t really used to eat ! And above all a good excuse to make a delicious dessert 😉

Pears and chocolate pie

For 6 servings

Preparation time: 20 + 30 + 5 min = 55min    Cooking time : 5 + 30 + 10 min = 45min

Refrigeration time: 2 + 1 + 1 h = 4h

Sweet almond pastry

[ingredients title=”Ingredients”]

• 120g butter
• 70g icing sugar
• 25g almond powder
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 egg
• 200g plain flour

[/ingredients]

Custard

[ingredients title=”Ingredients”]

• 1/2 vanilla bean
• 20cl whole milk
• 2 egg yolks
• 40g caster sugar
• 15g corn flour

[/ingredients]

Filling

[ingredients title=”Ingredients”]

• 6 William pears
• 1 tbsp organic lavander honey
• 1 knob of butter
• water
• 50g dark strong chocolate

[/ingredients]

PREPARATION

Sweet almond pastry

• In a bowl, combine flour , butter cut into small pieces , icing sugar , almond powder , salt and egg. Combine without overworking the dough and form a ball.

• Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours before using . It will be easier to spread .

Custard

• Scrape the vanilla bean using the tip of a knife. Pour the milk into the pan , add 1/2 vanilla bean and seeds and bring the milk until simmering . Remove from heat and immediately cover and leave to infuse for 15 minutes .

• In a bowl whisk the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture whitens . Stir in the cornflour .

• Remove the vanilla bean from the milk and heat again until simmer.
• Pour 1/3 of hot milk onto the egg, cornstarch and sugar mixture and whisk.
• Put the liquide in a saucepan.
• Bring to boil , whisking and making sure to scrape the sides of the pan.

• Remove the cream from heat and pour it into a bowl. Cover with a plastic wrap. Let cool.

Cooking pears

• Peel the pears and cut them into thin slices.

• In a frying pan, melt a knob of butter and add sliced ​​pears .
• Add honey and a little of water. Cook pears until they are soft.

Pie making

• Preheat the oven to 200°C.
• Remove dough from refrigerator and roll out the dough gently with a rolling pin .

• Place the dough in a pie dish , cover with baking paper and beans and bake for 30 minutes until it is golden brown.

• Remove dough from oven and remove baking paper and beans
• Cover the pastry with the custard.
• Cover the custard with pears.

• Melt the chocolate in the microwave . Using a teaspoon dipped in chocolate, let flow a dash of chocolate on the pie.

• Cool completely at room temperature.
• Put in the fridge until serving.

If you still have pastry you can make beautiful chocolate shortbreads . Roll the dough, cut it with a cookie cutter , and bake for 20 minutes. Top with melted chocolate and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes before serving. Chocolate will be so crisp !

Custard and sweet almond pastry recipes are coming from the book Ladurée The Sweet Recipes from chêne edition.