Pear Belle Hélène

Belle Hélène just got a glow-up. Pears gently poached in white wine with lemon, honey and thyme, paired with a tangy cheese, lemon, honey and thyme ice cream, then drenched in a silky dark chocolate sauce. It's classy and a little bit fancy.

Serves 2

Ingredients

Cheese Ice Cream Ingredients

Juice of 2 lemons

4 sprigs of thyme

2 1/2 tbsp. of sugar

3 tbsp. of honey (2 for the syrup and 1 for the ice cream)

Zest of 1 lemon

225g cream cheese

250g mascarpone

50ml of cream

Poached Pears Ingredients

2 pears, peeled and cored

2 tbsp. of sugar

3 tbsp. of honey

1 vanilla pod

Juice of 1 lemon

600ml of dry white wine

3 sprigs of thyme

Peel of 1 lemon

Chocolate Sauce Ingredients

1 tbsp. of brown sugar

1 tsp. of vanilla extract

1 tbsp. of honey

100g of dark chocolate with Himalayan Salt (Chopped into small pieces)

200ml of pouring cream

2 tbsp. of sour cream

1 tbsp. of poached pear liquid

3 digestive biscuits crushed

Method

1.       Before you start the ice cream, bring the mascarpone and cream cheese to room temperature.

2.       To make the syrup for the ice cream, add the lemon juice, thyme, sugar, lemon zest and 2 tbsp. of honey to a saucepan on a medium heat. Simmer for 10 minutes and remove from the heat and allow to cool for another 10 minutes. Once cool, drain off the liquid into a jug.

3.       Beat the cream cheese in a large bowl for 2 minutes. Add the mascarpone and beat for another 2 minutes. Add in the cream and beat for a minute or two. Pour in 100ml of the sugar syrup and beat through.

4.       Pour the ice cream into a freezing bowl. Stir through the 1 tbsp. of honey.

5.       Place in the freezer overnight.

6.       Next up make the poaching liquid. Add the sugar, honey and lemon juice to a saucepan over a medium heat. Stir through until the sugar has dissolved. Add the lemon peel and thyme. Cut the vanilla pod down the middle and scoop out the seeds into the liquid. Add in the pod. Add in the white wine.

7.       Cut a piece of baking paper into a round, the size of the saucepan. Add the pears and cover with the baking paper. Poach the pears for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

8.       Add the brown sugar, vanilla extract, honey, cream and sour cream to a saucepan. Bring to a simmer and remove from the heat.

9.       While that’s coming to a simmer, add your chocolate to a heat proof bowl. Then pour in the creamy liquid and allow to sit for 2 minutes. Stir through. Pour into a jug.

10.  You’re ready to assemble. Grab a plate, place half of the crumbled biscuits on the base. Place one poached pear on top of the biscuit. Add a scoop of the ice cream to the side. Top the ice cream with a sprig of thyme. Then pour over some of the delicious chocolate sauce over the pear. Enjoy this tasty goodness.

You can check out how to make it in my Youtube video: https://youtu.be/EPg98EMzRnc