Bittersweet Chocolate And Pear Pie Recipes

BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE AND PEAR TART

Steps:

• Whisk together the melted butter, sugar and salt. Add flour and ground almonds and stir until it feels like damp sand. Press dough evenly along bottom and halfway up the sides of an 8-inch round tart pan with a removable bottom. Use waxed paper or buttered fingers to even out and press dough tightly into the corners. Prick crust all over with a fork and chill while you preheat oven to 350 degrees about 30 minutes. Set pan on a baking sheet and bake until crust is golden brown, about 25 minutes.
• While crust bakes, bring milk, agave and salt to a simmer in a medium saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat and pour over chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Let it sit for about 2 minutes without stirring. Starting in the middle of bowl, whisk chocolate together until evenly melted and the mixture a smooth and shiny dark brown.
• Fan pear slices around bottom of the tart shell in one even layer. Whisk beaten egg into the chocolate filling and pour filling over pears and crust. Decrease oven temperature to 300 degrees and return tart to oven; bake until filling is set but still a little wiggly in the center third, about 15 minutes. Remove and cool tart completely on a rack at room temperature. Remove tart from pan sides and carefully transfer to a platter. Slice and serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

UPSIDE-DOWN PEAR CHOCOLATE CAKE

Steps:

• Butter a 9-inch round baking pan.
• To make the fruit topping, put the sugar and water in a heavy saucepan (one with a tight-fitting lid) and stir until the sugar dissolves. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, then cover and cook for 2 minutes. (Covering in this way allows the steam to wash down the sides of pan, which will prevent any sugar crystals from forming.) Uncover the saucepan and continue to boil the sugar, gently and slowly swirling the pan as needed to cook the caramel evenly, until it becomes a dark amber color. Occasionally wash down the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in cold water. Carefully pour the caramel into the prepared pan and allow it to harden. The pan will be very hot from the sugar, so take care in moving it if you need to. Fan the pear slices on top of the caramel in a circle around the perimeter, filling in the center with the remaining slices.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• To make the cake, place the butter and chocolate in a small saucepan over low heat and melt, stirring occasionally. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl. Transfer the melted chocolate to a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer and add the sugar. Using a handheld mixer with beaters or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture in three additions alternating with the milk in two additions, beginning and ending with the flour and scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the middle of the oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the cake bounces back slightly when touched. Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then invert the cake onto a plate, leaving the pan on top of the cake for 5 minutes before you remove it. Serve the cake warm, topped with a small dollop of Chantilly cream or a scoop of Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.
• Storage: Wrapped in plastic wrap, the cake will keep at room temperature for up to 3 days.

CHOCOLATE-AND-PEAR PIE

Steps:

• For the Crust: Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl (or in a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment), whisk together butter, egg yolk, sugar, and salt until light and fluffy. Stir in flour to combine, then knead mixture with your hands a few times to form a soft, pliable dough.
• Press dough evenly into bottom and up sides of a standard 9-inch pie dish. Refrigerate until firm, at least 20 minutes or, covered, up to 1 day.
• For the Filling: In a large bowl (or mixer fitted with paddle attachment), whisk together butter, 3/4 cup sugar, eggs and egg white, vanilla, salt, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, and cocoa until thick and glossy, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in flour just to combine, then chocolate and ginger.
• Peel, halve, and core pears, then immediately toss in a bowl with lemon juice (to prevent browning). With flat sides facing down, slice pears lengthwise into 1/4-inch thick slices, and fan out slices slightly (like a hand of playing cards) but do not separate. Arrange slices from one half of the pear in a single layer on the bottom of the chilled crust.
• Pour brownie batter into crust, smoothing top with an offset spatula. Arrange remaining sliced-and-fanned pear halves on top of batter. Drizzle with remaining lemon juice from bowl (you should have about 2 teaspoons).
• Stir together remaining 2 teaspoons sugar and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon; sprinkle evenly over pears. Bake until pie is puffed and set along edges but still slightly wobbly in center, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Let cool on a wire rack until no longer hot, about 30 minutes. Slice and serve warm or at room temperature, with ice cream.

PEAR AND CHOCOLATE TART

Steps:

• Place the water and lemon juice in a saucepan. Peel the pears, cut them in half and core them. As each is peeled and cored, place it in the saucepan, just covered with water.
• Add one-half cup of the sugar, bring to a simmer and cook gently about 10 minutes, until the pears are just tender. Drain the pears and place them on several thicknesses of paper towel to continue draining.
• Melt the chocolate over hot water or in a microwave oven. Beat in the butter a tablespoon at a time, then beat in the eggs.
• Mix one-third cup of the hazelnuts or almonds with the flour and the remaining sugar and stir into the chocolate mixture.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Sprinkle the remaining hazelnuts or almonds over the bottom of the baked tart shell. Cut each pear half into four thick slices and arrange the slices close together in the tart shell. Spread the chocolate mixture over the pears.
• Bake 30 minutes. Serve warm or cooled to room temperature with whipped cream on the side.

PEAR CHOCOLATE PIE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400°F (205°C).
• Combine flour, 5 tbs sugar and salt in large bowl; cut in butter and work until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
• Stir in enough water with fork just until flour is moistened.
• Shape dough into ball; flatten slightly.
• Roll out ball of dough on lightly floured surface into 12-inch circle.
• Fold into quarters.
• Place dough into 9-inch pie pan; unfold, pressing firmly against bottom and sides.
• Trim crust to 1/2 inch from edge of pan.
• Crimp or flute edge.
• Fill unbaked pie crust with dry beans and cook in preheated oven for 15-20 min or until done.
• Bring cream to a boil and mix in chopped chocolate.
• Stir until chocolate melted and the mixture smooth.
• Add vanilla extract.
• Bring water and 5 tbs sugar to a boil and add pears.
• Let simmer for 10 minutes.
• Slice pears.
• Line the bottom of pie with pears, cover with chocolate cream.
• Let cool completely before serving.
• Note: with the remaining pastry dough you could shape leavs or hearts to decorate the finished pie.