Pears poached in Pécharmant, creamy chocolate, dried royal ice cream

Today, Raphaël Potard, home chef at La Belle Assiette in Bordeaux, gives us his flagship recipe: Pear poached in Pécharmant, creamy chocolate and dried royal ice cream.
A chef's recipe, technical but totally feasible, that will impress your guests every time!

Ingredients

For the poached pears:

• 8 firm pears
• 300g caster sugar
• 0,5L red wine (Pécharmant)
• 0.2L of water
• 4 rosemary leaves
• 1 sprig of sage

For the chocolate creamer:

• 240 g of dark chocolate pastry (52% minimum)
• 0.2L milk ½ skimmed
• 0.2L 30% mg liquid cream
• 3 egg yolks
• 60g of sugar

For the dried royal icing:

• 300g sifted icing sugar
• 1 egg white
• ½ squeezed lemon
• Fennel seeds (optional)

Preparation

1. Making the creamy chocolate:

• Make a custard with milk, cream, egg yolks and sugar.
• Add the dark chocolate previously cut into pieces, then blend with a hand blender.
• Put the preparation in a rectangular dish, film in contact with the cream and leave to cool (10 min at room temperature, then 2h in the fridge).
• Put the preparation in a round piping bag.

1. Making poached pears :

• In a saucepan that can hold all your pears, bring the wine, sugar and water to a boil, then add the rosemary and sage to the mixture.
• Wash and peel the pears, then plunge them halfway into the syrup.
• Let cook on low heat (the syrup must be simmering) about 20 min covered.
  Note: Pears are cooked when the tip of the knife easily and evenly enters the pears while maintaining a firm consistency.
• Remove the cooked pears and leave to cool.
• Remove the herbs and leave the syrup on the fire until you get a very thick syrup, keep it
• Cut the pears in half and remove the seeds with a spoon and leave in a cool place until ready to serve.

1. Making the royal dried ice cream:

• Preheat the oven to 170°.
• In a mixer, mix the sifted icing sugar, the egg white and the juice of half a lemon and whisk at high speed for 7 minutes.
  Note: the result is too liquid, add a little icing sugar.
• Add the fennel seeds
• Oil a sheet of baking paper evenly with a brush. Place the sheet on a baking sheet.
• Place the ice on the sheet of paper and spread evenly with a spatula until it is about 2mm thick.
• Cook for about 7min at 170°C.
  Note: royal icing is cooked when it is lightly golden.

Dressage

On a plate, poach the creamy, add the pear, and fix shavings of dried ice, drizzle with syrup. You can decorate with red fruit and mint leaf.

Suggestion

This dessert will go very well with a bottle of Pomerol from Château des Annereaux: A silky, delicate and slightly smoky wine, ready to drink. SILVER medal at the "Prix Plaisir 2015" competition of Bettane et Desseauve 88/100 WINE ENTHUSIAST.