Pear Chocolate Cream

Serves six

Pear Chocolate Cream Oooh, sexy. The perfect pear-shaped pear, generously draped with rich, dark chocolate.

Main players:
6 Bosc or Bartlett pears
3-1/2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 cup heavy cream

Supporting cast:
5 cups sparkling wine or water
2 cups white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter, diced

Combine the sparkling wine or water and white sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring. Wash the pears, but do not peel them. Place them in the syrup and simmer gently for 20-30 minutes, until tender to the touch. Allow the pears to cool in the syrup.

Finely chop the chocolate.

Combine the cream, brown sugar and butter in a small pan and heat, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved and the sauce is smooth. Remove from the heat, add the chopped chocolate and stir well until completely smooth.

Drain the pears well and place one pear in the center of a shallow soup plate. Spoon the hot chocolate sauce over until the whole pear, including the stem, is completely coated. Repeat for the other pears. Serve immediately.

Bread, Tomato, Garlic
Quick Cooking with 3 Main Ingredients
By Jill Dupleix
Soma Books, 1999
Paperback, $27.00
Photography by Geoff Lung
160 pages, color
ISBN: 1-57959-022-5
Recipe Reprinted by permission.