Chocolate Coffee Gingerbread With Hazelnut Poached Pears Recipes

CHOCOLATE-COFFEE GINGERBREAD WITH HAZELNUT POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• For pears:
• Combine sugar, 1 1/2 cups water, and Frangelico in heavy large wide saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to boil. Add pears (liquid will not cover pears completely). Cover and simmer until pears are tender when pierced with knife, turning occasionally, about 12 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer pears to medium bowl. Boil cooking liquid in pan until syrupy and reduced to generous 3/4 cup, about 5 minutes. Pour syrup over pears and cool slightly. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.
• For gingerbread:
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously butter 12-cup nonstick Bundt pan, then spray with nonstick spray. Dust pan lightly with flour. Whisk 2 cups flour and next 5 ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Combine sugar, molasses, olive oil, and eggs in large bowl; whisk until well blended. Add dry ingredients and stir to blend. Mix in hot coffee, then chocolate and crystallized ginger (most of chocolate will melt). Transfer batter to prepared pan.
• Bake cake until tester inserted near center comes out clean and cake begins to pull away from sides of pan, 55 to 60 minutes. Transfer pan to rack; cool cake in pan 20 minutes. Turn cake out onto rack and cool at least 1 hour. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool completely. Cover with cake dome or wrap in foil and store at room temperature. If desired, uncover cake and place on oven-proof platter and rewarm in 350°F oven for 15 minutes before serving.
• For coffee whipped cream:
• Combine all ingredients in large bowl. Using electric mixer, beat until peaks form. DO AHEAD: Can be made 4 hours ahead. Cover and chill.
• Cut warm or room-temperature gingerbread into 10 slices and transfer 1 slice to each of 10 plates. Place 1 pear half alongside each. Drizzle with pear syrup and top with coffee whipped cream.

GINGER-POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°. Core pears from bottom, leaving stems intact. Peel pears; cut in half vertically. Cut 1/4 in. from bottoms to level if necessary. Place in an ungreased 13x9-in. baking dish. , Place ginger ale and honey in a small saucepan. Cook and stir until combined; spoon over pears. Bake, uncovered, 25-30 minutes or until tender, basting occasionally., With a slotted spoon, remove pears to individual serving dishes. Transfer pan juices to a small saucepan; stir in ginger. Cook and stir over medium heat 5-8 minutes or until heated through. Spoon over pears; sprinkle with pecans.

SPICED POACHED PEARS IN CHOCOLATE SAUCE

Steps:

• In a pan big enough to hold the pears snugly, tip in all the ingredients except the pears. Half fill the pan with water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 10 mins to infuse, drop in pears, cover and gently poach for about 30 mins until soft. Turn off the heat and set aside. The pears can be poached up to 2 days ahead and kept in the poaching syrup in the fridge.
• To make the chocolate sauce, tip the chocolate into a heatproof bowl. Bring the cream, milk and cinnamon to the boil and pour over the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate has melted. To serve, drain the pears and, holding them by the stem, dip them in the chocolate sauce to completely cover. Serve each pear with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream.

PEAR, HAZELNUT & CHOCOLATE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to fan 140C/ conventional 160C/gas 3. Butter and line the base of a 20cm round cake tin. Grind the hazelnuts in a food processor until fairly fine. Add the flour and mix briefly. Add the butter and pulse until it forms crumbs. Add the sugar and eggs and mix briefly. Peel, core and chop two of the pears. Stir the pears and chocolate lightly into the cake mixture.
• Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the top. Peel, core and slice the remaining pears and scatter over the top of the cake. Press down lightly and bake for 50-60 minutes, until firm to the touch. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out and cool on wire rack. Warm the jam and brush over the top. Serve warm or cold.

POACHED PEARS WITH GINGERBREAD

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 8 3/4-by-4 1/4-by-2 3/4-inch loaf pan, and set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and both sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 4 minutes. Add vanilla, and mix. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
• In a large bowl, sift together ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and flour. Gradually add flour mixture to the butter mixture, and mix on low speed just until the flour has been incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pan, and smooth the top with a spatula.
• Bake until a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Run a knife between the cake and the pan, and invert onto a serving platter.
• Using a paring knife, make a trough in the center of the cake: Insert knife halfway into the cake, and cut a rectangle, leaving a 3/4-inch border all around. Insert a serrated knife through one long side of the cake, intersecting the cut made by the paring knife through the top. Cut bottom of the trough, being careful not to cut through the shorter sides or all the way through the cake. Lift out trough, and reserve for snacking. Cover cake with plastic until ready to assemble.
• Peel pears, and place in a medium saucepan. Add remaining ingredients and just enough water to cover pears.
• Set saucepan over high heat, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, and cook, stirring gently, over medium-low heat until a paring knife easily pierces pears, about 15 minutes. Remove pan from heat; let pears cool in liquid.
• Using a slotted spoon, transfer pears to a plate. Pour poaching liquid through a sieve set over a bowl. Discard solids, and return liquid to saucepan. Place over medium-high heat, and cook until liquid has been reduced to a syrup that coats the back of a wooden spoon, about 45 minutes. Let cool; store pears in red-wine syrup in an airtight container until ready to assemble dessert.
• Place heavy cream, sugar, and cinnamon in a chilled medium bowl. Using a whisk, whip cream until soft peaks form. Cover with plastic, and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Slice poached pears in half, and remove the cores with a melon baller. Unwrap cake, and dust with confectioners' sugar. Stand halved pears in the trough of the cake. Drizzle 2 tablespoons red-wine syrup over the tops. Serve cake with additional syrup, and dollop each portion with cinnamon whipped cream.

POACHED PEARS WITH CHOCOLATE SAUCE

Steps:

• Core pears from bottom, leaving stems intact. Peel pears. Cut 1/4 in. from bottom to level if necessary. Place in a large saucepan; add the water, vanilla, cinnamon stick and nutmeg. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 35-40 minutes or until pears are almost tender., Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine the sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and cinnamon. Gradually whisk in milk until smooth. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened and bubbly. Cool. , Drain pears; place on dessert plates. Drizzle with chocolate sauce.