Poire Belle HĂ©lĂšne is a classic French desert that can be made well in advance: Itâs also versatile and relatively light to close off any meal!
This pear with a chocolate sauce and ice-cream dessert is a classic French dessert that I love to serve. Itâs relatively easy to make and Iâm sure it will impress your guests tremendously⊠Go to the end of my article for âtwistsâ to the Belle HĂ©lĂšne French dessert.
There are also several advantages tomaking âPears Belle Heleneâ:
- most of it can be made well ahead of dinner time (even the previous day)
- itâs a dessert that is on the lighter side, not very sweet and can definitely close a rich dinner without any problems
- you can move away from the traditional recipe and âmatchâ the flavors of the dinner that you served (more on that later)
French Pear & Chocolate Dessert Ingredients
- 4-6 Pears (ripe but still firm â get the best quality you can, itâs the key) (âdes poiresâ)
- 1 Liter Water (âun litre dâeauâ)
- 200g Sugar (âdu sucreâ)
- Lemon or Orange zest (âdes zestes de citrons ou orangesâ)
- Optional: Vanilla (pod or extract) (âde la vanilleâ)
- Optional: 1 Star Anise (âde la badiane chinoiseâ)
- 250g Dark bittersweet chocolate (âdu chocolat amerâ)
- 30cl Heavy cream (âde la cremeâ)
- 50g Butter (room temperature) (âdu beurre a temperature ambianteâ)
- Slivered toasted almonds (âdes amandes grillĂ©esâ)
- Ice-cream (traditionally vanilla) (âde la glaceâ)
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The Pears for the Poire Belle HĂ©lĂšne
Fill a large saucepan (âune casseroleâ) with water and mix in the sugar, the zests and optionally the star anise and the vanilla (a pod split in half or some extract). Put on the heat and let it come up to a very gentle simmer (âFaire frĂ©mir lâeauâ).
Peel the pears, then cut off the lower part so that the pear can stand nicely on a plate (important for the plating later).
Then, from the bottom, core the pears (i.e.: remove the seeds & core) using a knife and a small spoon. This is a very delicate operation (this is why the pears still need to be firm) so take your time.
To make the pears more appealing, try to keep the stem on them, itâs the classic âtwistâ :-)
Then simmer the pears inside the syrupy liquid (âle liquide sirupeuxâ) until they are fork tender (test using a thin knife and see if it goes in smoothly throughout the pear). Be careful to not overcook them, otherwise youâll end up with âde la compoteâ (pear sauce)!
Set aside to rest inside their poaching liquid in a clean pan (you can keep them like that overnight if you need and even up to 3 days).
Making the Chocolate Sauce for the Pears Belle HĂ©lĂšne
Slowly heat up the cream in a heavy bottom pan or even better in a double-boiler (âun bain-marieâ) (a container on top of a simmering pot of water). Once itâs heated (never bring to a boil!), then add the chocolate (chopped up into small, even pieces).
Keep mixing until the chocolate completely melts. Then add the butter and mix gently until it has all melted and incorporated the chocolate mixture.
The Plating of the French Pear Dessert
In a dessert dish, place one of the pears standing up. Add an ice cream scoop and then drizzle the warm chocolate sauce on top of both the pear and the ice-cream.
Finish with a small handful of toasted slivered almonds⊠Enjoy!
Alternate Versions â The Pear Bella Helena?
One of the nice things about this dessert is that you can easily adapt it to what you served your guestsâŠ
- Did you serve Thai food? Then poach the pears in a ginger syrup and serve with a coconut ice-cream or a lime sherbetâŠ
- Italian food? Try poaching the pears in a basil based-syrup and serve with a strawberry ice creamâŠ
- Indian? Poach your pears in an Earl Grey tea syrup and serve with a vanilla ice-cream and add rose water to your chocolate sauceâŠ
You see where Iâm going with this?
Let me know in the comments how it turned out for you and what combo you think might work well.
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