Chocolate Poached Pears!

Print Print | Print Email this to a friend | January 7, 2009
Filed Under dessert, recipe

Every New Years Eve my husband and I stay home and have raw oysters, lobster and champagne. This has been our tradition ever since we moved to Minnesota, 15 years ago. Graham proposed to me on NYE so it has always been a special night for us. This year our two young boys joined us in the celebration. They helped to shuck the oysters and then reluctantly slid them down. Our 9 year old was satisfied with just one and will perhaps forgo this part of the tradition next year and head straight for the lobster! Our 7 year old, on the other hand, ate the oysters like popcorn. The only problem with having a child who likes raw oysters is now I have to share!

After a meal this rich I wanted something decadent, but light. Poached pears seemed the perfect ending, but with a twist on the classic. Pears slowly poached in chocolate sauce. Gorgeous and luscious, but absolutely no fat in the entire recipe. The 4 of us ushered in the New Year while playing scrabble and eating our pears! Not exactly the dance-all-night-raves of our youth, but just as wonderful!

Chocolate Poached Pears:

6-8 very firm pears, peeled and cored (the amount will depend on their size.)

8 cups water

1 cup cocoa powder (Droste, Valrhona, Scharffen Berger or Ghirardelli are great choices. The darker the cocoa the darker your pears will be. Valrhona is the darkest of this line up.)

1 cup sugar

1/2 vanilla bean, split open and scraped

1″ piece of cinnamon bark

Over medium heat, bring the water, cocoa, sugar, vanilla bean and cinnamon stick to a boil in a large pot and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Turn heat down to low.

Add the pears.

Allow to simmer for up to 2 hours. You will need to gently turn them so that they are cooking evenly in the chocolate sauce. To test if they are done, stick a fork gently inside of the cored pear so that you don’t leave marks on the outside. Once they are tender on the inside, remove the pears. Turn up the heat on the pot and cook the chocolate poaching liquid until it thickens, about 10-15 minutes. You want it thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Spoon the sauce on the plate. Add your pear and drizzle more sauce over the pear. If you want to add a bit of richness to the plate you can stuff the pear with some lightly sweetened ricotta.

*Jeff and I sent off the manuscript for book #2 yesterday! Can I just tell you how wonderful that feels! Now we look forward to several months of testing the recipes, editing the text and doing that over and over again, until it goes to print in the fall.

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Comments

23 Responses to “Chocolate Poached Pears!”

01/7/09 8:20 am	Jenni said... It never even occurred to me to try doing this with chocolate sauce! Lovely! I’d add some whipped creme fraiche as garnish, just ’cause I need some fat!
01/7/09 8:27 am	Marthe said... This looks absolutely divine! I just made poached pears yesterday, but am not contemplating on buying more pears just to try them with chocolate!
01/7/09 10:09 am	Mike said... I never thought to poach pears with chocolate, but I love the idea and absolutely love the photos!
01/7/09 10:25 am	Katharine said... chocolate and pears! my favorite combination. I can’t wait to try it tonight.
01/7/09 11:28 am	Peter said... Not a bad New Year’s tradition to have but the pears poached in chocolat…that’s pure evil (luv it).
01/7/09 11:58 am	Natasha - 5 Star Foodie said... Wow, what a great idea. Beautiful picture!
01/7/09 12:12 pm	Bret Bannon said... Happy New Year – Congratulations on meeting your deadline with your second book. The pears look fabulous. I’m teaching an Indian class soon and Naan is on the menu. Guess which recipe I’m using? Giving you full credit.
01/7/09 3:17 pm	Chocolate Shavings said... Those pears look delicious – I know what I’m writing on my next grocery list!
01/7/09 3:50 pm	Chez Us said... Your New Years sounds perfect!! Love the idea of staying in and slurping down oysters with champagne – YUM! The poached pears are also lovely especially when you combine with chocolate, I would have never thought to do this! Thanks for a great new idea!
01/7/09 4:24 pm	Dragon said... Sounds like a wonderful new years eve. These decadent pears look perfect. Absolutely lovely.
01/7/09 7:02 pm	MC said... Congrats on the book! Can’t wait to have it in my hands. The pears look gorgeous. What a great idea to simmer them in cocoa syrup. Brilliant!
01/7/09 7:24 pm	Linda said... Oh my goodness, this sounds beyond decadent … sounds like a perfect new years eve celebration to me!
01/7/09 7:28 pm	Gin said... WOW!!! These look so so very good. I will definitely try these. Thanks.
01/7/09 9:19 pm	Megan said... What a wonderful recipe! I’ll definitely keep this in mind the next time I buy pears!
01/7/09 11:34 pm	CookiePie said... WOW – that looks amazing – what a fantastic idea!
01/7/09 11:45 pm	SG said... damn those pears look good!
01/8/09 5:40 am	Patricia Scarpin said... I have never tried poached pears, Zoe, and these are much more sinful! Yum!
01/8/09 6:08 am	Aran said... divine!!!
01/8/09 8:33 am	Eileen said... Beautiful photo of the pears. It sounded like a wonderful way to celebrate NYE.
01/10/09 10:43 am	maris said... What a nice celebration! Sounds like a yummu dessert too.
01/24/09 6:36 pm	EAT! said... What a menu! All of my favorites in one meal. The pears look divine. My kids have adult palates – clams, lobsters, brie. It can get expensive.
01/28/09 12:28 am	Suzy said... These look amazing! I’ve never had pears and chocolate but after seeing this I’m wondering why not!
03/16/09 2:42 pm	Giff said... why have I never done this love it!