Sunday, April 26, 2009

Baked chocolate cream with ginger-poached pears


The wind keeps us trapped inside, throwing knives of cold rain and stirring up whirlwinds of chilling air.

We braved the war once for laundry but were defeated as we hurried back into our sanctuary, shaking the wet debris from our shoulders and hoods. We covered every inch of our skin with layers of clothing, wrapping ourselves in a cocoon of warmth.

Some hours passed before my feet eventually regained feeling and I was able to move from the nest I had huddled myself into on our couch. On days like these my husband amuses himself by playing his Xbox and my dog sleeps until the weather subsides and his chances of a walk improve. I strangely didn't feel like reading, my stormy weather habit. In a few hours we were to be picking up our friend from the airport, something I was not looking forward to in this climate. Bad weather tends to add many minutes to car trips, so I thought it best if I started on dessert now, rather than risk insufficient time later.

These night shots are killing me - if you have tips on how to get decent night shots please feel free to pass them onto me :).

ease: 3/5. Multi components and time consuming.
prep time: 2hours & 5mins.
cooking time: 35mins.
total: 2hours & 40mins.

taste: 3.5/5. Wowza this is a heavy hit of chocolate. I don't know why but it seems that the older I get the less I can handle deep, super rich chocolate without drinking litres of water and feeling a little ill. The pears taste exactly like the Stone's green ginger wine, so I suggest that you taste the wine first before poaching the pears in it. The chocolate is like a fudgy cake batter, full of dark chocolate headiness. The pear does help somewhat to cut through the sweetness with its juicy ginger-ness, but the chocolate is still the most overwhelming flavour. Adaptations I made:
  • omitted crystallised ginger, the pears were already very ginger-y
  • used three 250ml ramekins - no one was able to finish their serving
  • I peeled the pears - I think it may just be an error in the recipe that it doesn't state this step

would I make it again: No - too much chocolate for me to handle.

recipe: http://gourmettraveller.com.au/Recipe_Perfect_Match.htm

2 comments:

  1. We've been having some cold, rainy weather as well. I was be curled up on a couch too. :) This dessert looks really warm and comforting. Perfect for a cold night.

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  2. You can have some of our weather :) 90 and hot! The dessert looks great, your photography is amazing!!

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