Poires Belle Hélène (poached pears) with hazelnut meringue recipe

A dessert from the 1970s that is sure to be revived. There was a barbeque room in a hotel near Belfast where this was on the menu. I thought I was the bee’s knees when I ordered it. He was French after all. You can’t go wrong with poached pears and chocolate, especially when it’s next to meringue. When grinding nuts in a food processor, do so in short bursts or they will become greasy and useless.

Times

Preparation time: 30 minutes, plus overnight rest

Cooking time: 1 hour 30 minutes

It serves

Eight

Ingridients

For meringues

• 5 larger egg whites
• 250 g of golden sugar
• 75 g of blanched hazelnuts, coarsely ground
• 1 teaspoon of cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar

For pears

• 8 pears
• juice of 2 lemons and 2 wide strips of lemon peel
• 550 ml of white wine
• 200 g of powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons kirsch (optional)

For the chocolate sauce

• 175 g dark chocolate (70 percent), broken into pieces
• 100 ml of double cream
• 50 ml of very strong coffee
• 175 g soft light brown sugar

To serve

• 1 liter of vanilla ice cream
• 25 g of blanched hazelnuts, toasted and very roughly chopped

The method

1. Preheat the oven to 130C/120C fan/gas. 1. Draw eight circles – 9-10 cm in diameter – on baking paper, four on one sheet and four on the other.

2. Put the egg whites in a carefully clean bowl and beat them with a pinch of salt. When the egg whites become soft, add the powdered sugar a tablespoon at a time and continue beating. You should end up with a stiff, shiny mixture. Stir in walnuts, cornmeal and vinegar.

3. Use a few small blobs of meringue to stick parchment paper pencil side down onto two large baking sheets.

4. Divide the meringue among eight circles. Bake in the middle of the oven for an hour and 20 minutes; switch pans halfway through.

5. Turn off the oven and leave the meringues in it overnight. The next day, carefully peel off the paper. Place the meringues somewhere safe until you want to serve them. They will keep for a week in an airtight container.

6. Cook the pears by peeling them and leaving the stalks. Immediately put them in a bowl with lemon juice. We turn them in it so that they don’t brown.

7. Place the wine, 100ml water, lemon zest and sugar in a pan large enough to hold all the pears in a single layer. Bring to a slow boil and stir to dissolve the sugar.

8. Lower the heat, stir in the vanilla, add the pears with lemon juice and poach the fruit. You should turn the pears every now and then to ensure even cooking. It may take 15 minutes for ripe ones and 45 for firm ones. Continue checking for doneness with the tip of a small, sharp knife. The flesh should be soft, but the pears should retain their shape.

9. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pears to a wide, shallow bowl where they can lie without touching. Otherwise, they will continue to cook and become too soft.

10. Remove the shell from the cooking liquid and boil it. Continue to dilute until syrup forms (it will also thicken as it cools). Add the kirsch, if using, and let cool. Pour the syrup over the pears. They will taste even better if they are aged in it for a day. Store them in the refrigerator, covered.

11. To make the sauce, place the chocolate in a bowl. Place the cream, coffee and sugar in a heavy saucepan and heat until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is very hot. Pour this over the chocolate. Let stand for two minutes, then blend until smooth. It will thicken as it cools. If a skin forms on top, just stir again.

12. Serve one meringue per person with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top and a pear on the side. I like a little syrup drizzled over the ice cream. Drizzle the chocolate sauce over the top, sprinkle with roasted hazelnuts and serve.