Easter 2020 and pear. And chocolate of course. Did you manage Easter without a chocolate overdose?
Not to worry, there was chocolate involved in our household. We made an Easter bunny, two large Easter eggs and a myriad of small eggs. Tempering chocolate is a great introduction for children to chemistry. Very messy though!
Poached autumn pear and its zabaglione mousse
This Easter 2020, for the meals I aimed at using some beautiful autumn ingredients I had gathered (in the shops considering we can’t travel): chestnuts, mushrooms, beans, a nice joint of lamb, different types of pears. What to do? Slowly this idea came up. Pear was going to be the queen of Easter 2020. I ended up poaching some pears in a mix of squeezed orange juice and spices. I was not going to discard the poaching liquid! The poaching liquid was the basis for a zabaglione mousse. The zabaglione was delicious warm, as a mousse, it has a great texture and works well with the poached pear. I prefered it warm butone of my kids loves it as a cold mousse, so that comes down to personal preferences.
Other pear recipes
I cook a lot with pears at the moment, obviously peak season. Check out these recipes that may inspire you.
Pear tarte tatin – works for pear and apple. The trick is to cook the fruits in a very buttery water bath before making the pie. The method behind the recipe comes from a reknown French pastry chef, Christophe Michalak. PS- you can find real butter puff pastry in Asutralian supermarkets now!
Pear and chocolate flan – a rapid and very easy recipe. It is a crowd lover and can be used to make use of those pears about to go off.
A bit more elaborate, this pear and chocolate tarte is a winner and always makes an impression. You will need to make a shorcrust pastry. It is a great dessert to finish off a diner party! – the photo I have is not exceptional, a good excuse to do it soon!
I like this more conventional pear and almond tarte.
Last year, I made this chocolate and standing pear cake. It was pretty good. I will put it back on my list for this month.
My last idea, the very simple Poire Belle Helene, one of my favourite classic. Here with a little chocolate twist.
I can’t believe I was about to forget the good old simple rural pear tarte. it is the same recipe as the classic apple tarte or pretty much. The evening classic of many families. I grew up with those!
