Chocolate Poached Pears
Decadent, but light, these chocolate poached pears are the perfect ending to a rich dinner, but with a twist on the classic. Gorgeous and luscious, but absolutely no fat in the entire recipe.
Ingredients
- 6-8 very firm pears (the amount will depend on their size) how to peel and core pears
- 8 cup 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 how to use a vanilla bean
- 1-inch piece of cinnamon bark learn about cinnamon bark here
Instructions
- 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.