Chocolate Easy Dessert French

Poached pears with chocolate (poire belle helene)

Name: Guillaume Brahimi's poire belle helene recipe
Yield: 4
Cuisine: /french
Ingredients: 350g caster sugar; 1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped; 4 (200g each) Williams pears, not overripe (see note, opposite); Vanilla ice cream, to serve; 80ml milk; 20.00 ml pure cream; 2 tsp runny honey; 100g dark (70%) chocolate, chopped; 3 tsp salted butter

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by Guillaume Brahimi

Jul 18, 2024

If you're looking for an easy, elegant dessert that will impress at the dinner table, this delicious poire belle helene recipe is it. Mastering the classic is the French chef himself, Guillaume Brahimi who pairs this poached pears recipe with an indulgent chocolate sauce. The pears are simmered in sugar and a vanilla bean before being cooled, and then drizzled in a dark chocolate sauce made from milk, pure cream, honey, salted butter and dark chopped chocolate. This easy dessert is served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream to marry with the sweet and tangy flavours, leaving a perfectly balanced dessert. You can't go wring with this recipe.

350g caster sugar
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
4 (200g each) Williams pears, not overripe (see note, opposite)
Vanilla ice cream, to serve

Chocolate sauce

1/3 cup (80ml) milk
1 tbs pure cream
2 tsp runny honey
100g dark (70%) chocolate, chopped
3 tsp salted butter

Method

1.

Place the sugar, vanilla pod and seeds in a medium saucepan with 700ml water. Bring to the boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium and bring to a simmer. Peel pears and add to the simmering syrup. Poach for 15-20 minutes, until easily pierced with a sharp knife.
2.

Set aside to cool in the syrup for 1 hour, turning pears in syrup occasionally while cooling, then chill in the fridge until required (store pears in syrup, then keep syrup in the fridge to poach other fruit).
3.

Meanwhile, to make the chocolate sauce, bring the milk, cream and honey to the boil in a small saucepan over high heat. Remove from the heat, add chocolate and whisk until smooth, then whisk in the butter until combined.
4.

Place pears in serving bowls, add a scoop of ice cream, then pour over the warm chocolate sauce. Serve immediately.

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Recipe Notes

When selecting Williams pears for cooking, choose ones that are ripe but still firm. Look for pears that are firm to touch but not rock-hard. They should yield slightly when gently pressed at the stem end.