Poires Belle Hélène
Either you admit it or not, we all have a sweet tooth 🦷. Ending a meal with a dessert, wraps up the whole experience so nicely. Some might skip it and finish their meal with a Spanish Coffee, Sambuca, Negroni, Port wine, etc. – don’t kid yourself, all of them are “sweet”.
There’s all kinds of sweets we can enjoy; from ordinary like cookies to comfort ones like pies or really fancy ones. There are dozens and dozens of gorgeous and fancy desserts from around the world 🌎 to choose from. They’re elegant and perfect for any occasion.
Here’s a quick list; Pavlova (Australia or New Zealand), Sachertorte (Austria), Tiramisu (Italy), Crème Brûlée (France), Baklava (Turkey), Black Forest Cake (Germany), Mochi (Japan), Sticky Toffee Pudding (United Kingdom), Eszterhazy Torta (Hungary), Cheesecake (United States), Flapper Pie (Canada), and more.
With my French background, I try really hard to stay impartial but, in this case, I can’t! Let’s not deny the fact that “les desserts français” have a soft spot for most of us 💖! They are elegant plus so scrumptious… well they’re French !
I think of Crêpe Suzette, Floating Island, Opera Cake, Baba au rhum, Charlotte, Mille-feuille, Paris-Brest, Éclairs, and +++. When it’s time to make a dessert with mostly fruits 🍌🍑🍐🍓, there’s another mouth-watering selection; Pêche Melba, Cherries Jubilee, Plum Galette, Clafoutis, and others including this one… Poires Belle Hélène!
Created by Auguste Escoffier back in the 19th century, this dessert is simply delectable! It’s made with pears 🍐 that are poached in a nice sugar syrup and then when serving them, a dark chocolate sauce is generously poured over and garnished with vanilla ice cream. It’s so beautiful to look at and even more when taking a bite of it!
The first thing that has to be done before starting these Poires Belle Hélène is to core the fruits. To keep them whole for a nice appearance, the seeds have to be removed. It’s pretty straight forward and uncomplicated to do. To see how it’s done, click on this link… Pears • How to Core
The success for making this stunning dessert is to gently poach the pears on medium-low heat until just cooked through. There’s a little bit of babysitting to do. If there are no bubbles going on in the saucepan, increase the heat a little so the mixture returns to a simmer.
To know when the fruits are done is to prick them with a pairing knife in the thickest part of them. If it goes in with a slight resistance, they’re done. Depending on their size, poaching can take anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes 🕝.
From here, they cool off to room temperature in the syrup while making the chocolate sauce 🍫. I don’t show how in the video because I already did so here’s the link to view it… Chocolate Sauce. I halved the chocolate recipe for 2 pears so adjust accordingly to the number of fruits you’ll be using.
With my objectivity slightly shaded by my roots, these French Poires Belle Hélène 🍐 are elegant and impressive to serve (the stems have to be on for impact)! With a generous drizzle of chocolate sauce and some vanilla ice cream, satisfy your sweet tooth with this classic dessert!
Bon Appétit!🍽
Here’s another pear 🍐 dessert recipe you should try… Poached Pears with Caramel Sauce
Check out these other scrumptious dessert recipes…😀
– Christmas Stollen
– Blood Orange Ice Cream
– Cream Cheese Carrot Cake
– Silk & Satin Chocolate Pie
– Butterscotch Pudding
– Holiday Fruitcake
– Lemon Posset
– Canadian Butter Tarts with Maple Syrup
and for even more dessert recipes, click on this link… Recipe Category • Dessert
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Poires Belle Hélène
Hover to scale
Ingredients
- 2 large firm pears, peeled with stems attached and cored tips & tricks
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice tips & trick
- 1/2 cup chocolate sauce see Recipe
- 4 scoops vanilla ice cream see Recipe
Directions
- In a medium saucepan tall enough to hold the pears upright, add sugar, water and orange juice. Turn the heat on medium-high, stir until the sugar is dissolved and bring the mixture to a boil.
- Reduce to medium-low and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
- Place the pears that have been cored in the simmering mixture, cover and poach them gently for 25 to 30 minutes or until just cooked through – to know when they’re done is by pricking with the tip of a paring knife.
- Remove from the heat and let them cool off at room temperature in the syrup, uncovered.
- Meanwhile, make the chocolate sauce.
- When time to serve, drain pears and place them upright individually in serving plates or bowls. Drizzle on a generous amount of chocolate sauce over the poached pears, add a couple scoops of vanilla ice cream or crème Chantilly and serve immediately.
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