Nothing is more important on an Easter menu than the dessert! No one will be able to resist this decadent chocolate pudding full of poached Autumn pears, served with a rich dark chocolate sauce and delicate vanilla bean cream
Serves: 6
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 50 minutes
Ingredients:
- 4 Beurre Bosc pears, peeled, cored and halved top to bottom
- 1/2 orange
- 200g butter, melted
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup self-raising flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa
- 1/3 cup hazelnut meal
- 1/4 cup roasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped, to serve
Chocolate Sauce:
- 100g dark chocolate, chopped
- 200ml vanilla cream
- 1 cup thickened cream
- 1/2 vanilla bean
Method:
- Preheat oven to 180°C
- Place pears in a large saucepan and squeeze over juice from the orange to prevent browning. Cover with water and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes or until soft, turning occasionally
- Meanwhile, mix butter and sugar together until well combined
- Whisk eggs until frothy, then add butter and sugar mixture and vanilla extract and whisk until well combined. Add flour, cocoa and hazelnut meal and stir until well combined
- Pour batter into a greased 20 x 30cm baking dish. Drain pears and arrange on top of batter, cut side up, pushing them down slightly so they sit in amongst the batter.
- Sprinkle with hazelnuts and bake for 25 minutes or until a soft crust has formed but pudding is still slightly gooey at the bottom - try not to allow it to cook all the way through.
- To make the sauce, combine the chocolate and cream in a small saucepan and stir over low heat until chocolate has melted
- To make the vanilla cream, pour cream into a medium bowl of a food processor. Slice vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape out seeds using the tip of a knife. Add seeds to cream and beat on high for 3-4 minutes or until soft peaks form
- Serve pudding topped with chocolate sauce and vanilla bean cream.
Nutrition Information:
Average Quantity per Serving Average Quantity per 100g
ENERGY 1973kJ (470kcal) 1083kJ (258kcal)
PROTEIN 7.6g 3.4g
FAT, TOTAL 28.9g 15.9g
- SATURATED 14.6g 8.0g
CARBOHYDRATE 43.3g 23.8g
- SUGARS 37.8g 20.7g
DIETARY FIBRE 5.4g 3.0g
SODIUM 250mg 137mg