Pear Mascarpone Custard Recipes

PEAR GRATIN WITH MASCARPONE CUSTARD

Steps:

• To make the custard, heat the milk in a heavy saucepan until it is almost boiling. In a separate bowl, beat egg yolks until they are light and pale-colored. Beat sugar into the yolks, tablespoon by tablespoon. Add flour and beat until smooth. Add heated milk to the yolk mixture in a slow stream, beating constantly. Beat until smooth. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and chill.
• When the mixture is thoroughly chilled, remove from refrigerator and whisk until smooth. Fold the mascarpone into the mixture. In a separate bowl, beat the cream until medium-stiff and fold into the custard mixture. Stir in vanilla and chill until ready to use.
• To make the gratin, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Melt the butter in a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Add sugar and stir constantly until a golden brown caramel develops. Remove from heat.
• Arrange the pear halves, cut side down, on top of the caramel and scatter minced ginger, if desired, over the pears. Cover the pears with foil and bake for 15 minutes or until tender when pierced with a skewer.
• Place two pear halves in each of six individual gratin dishes. Divide the caramel among the dishes. Pour about 1 cup of custard into each gratin dish, covering the pears. Place the gratin dishes on a baking sheet for easier handling and bake for 5 minutes. Remove from oven.
• Change the oven setting to broil. Place gratins on the upper rack of the oven and broil carefully until the custard bubbles and browns, about 1 1/2 minutes. Watch very carefully; do not burn.

PEAR MASCARPONE CUSTARD

Steps:

• Position oven rack in the middle of oven; preheat oven to 375°; lightly butter and 11 x 7 inch baking dish.
• Drain the pear halves, reserving 3/4 cup of the syrup.
• Put pear halves on a cutting surface, flat side down, and score the rounded side with shallow, crosswise cuts; arrange the pears in the prepared baking dish.
• Add flour and sugar to a blender or food processor; blend or process until combined.
• Add in the mascarpone, eggs, vanilla, reserved pear syrup, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
• Blend/process until the batter is smooth, about 20 seconds.
• Pour batter over the fruit; sprinkle with the brown sugar.
• Bake custard until puffy and light brown and the center is set when gently shaken, about 25-30 minutes.
• Remove from oven and cool on a baking rack for 5-10 minutes; serve warm.

PEAR AND CHOCOLATE TART

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Roll pastry out to 1/4 inch thickness and use it to line a 9-inch tart dish. Prick the pastry with a fork and then place into the freezer for 20 minutes to prevent pastry from rising during baking.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Set crust aside. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Heat a saucepan about 1/3-full of water to a low simmer, about 5 minutes, then reduce heat to lowest setting. Place a heat-proof bowl over the pan in such a way that it does not touch the water. Add chocolate to the bowl and allow to melt. Limit stirring to an absolute minimum to prevent chocolate from separating.
• Mix ground almonds, eggs, sugar, and butter together in a bowl. Add warm melted chocolate and stir to combine. Pour chocolate mixture into the baked pastry crust.
• Arrange pears on top of the tart by pressing them into the chocolate mixture.
• Bake in the hot oven until pastry is golden and mixture is firm, 35 to 45 minutes.

BAKED PEARS WITH VANILLA MASCARPONE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Slice off bottom end of each pear just enough so that it will stand upright. Using a melon baller or small spoon, remove seeds from the bottom. Peel upper half, leaving stem intact, and pat dry with a paper towel. Rub butter over peeled part of each pear, and arrange pears in a small baking dish (about 7 by 11 inches) so they are standing. Sprinkle with the sugar.
• Pour wine into baking dish; add thyme sprigs, if using. Bake until pears are soft when pierced with a paring knife and well browned, about 45 minutes; using a small spoon, baste pears occasionally with the wine, adding a bit of water as needed to prevent liquid from evaporating. Remove from oven.
• To serve, spoon some of the pan juices into each serving dish, and place a pear on top. Serve with a dollop of mascarpone and several biscotti on the side.

SPICED PEARS WITH CHOCOLATE MASCARPONE

Steps:

• To make the spiced pears: In a large non-aluminum saucepan combine the wine, sugar, vanilla bean, lemon zest and orange peels. Tie the cloves, bay leaves, peppercorns and thyme in a piece of cheesecloth; add to the pan with nutmeg, mace, cardamom and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.
• Peel pears and cut in half length-wise. Add the pears to the liquid, cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Gently cook about 5 to 15 minutes, or until almost tender. Remove from the heat and let sit covered 5 minutes.
• Remove the pears from the syrup and allow to cool to room temperature on a wire rack. Chill the syrup on ice; when completely cooled, add the pears, cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
• To make the chocolate mascarpone: Melt chocolate in microwave or in top of double-boiler over boiling water. Cool slightly. Whip the mascarpone with the powdered sugar until smooth. Add the melted chocolate and rum, whisking well. Refrigerate until chilled. Spoon into a pastry bag fitted with star tip and set aside.
• Preheat oven to 450-degrees F. Remove the pears from the syrup and drain. With teaspoon or melon baller, carefully hollow out the pears, removing the core. Place the pears in an oven proof skillet large enough to hold all 8 halves. Brush with melted butter.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 5 minutes or until barely heated through. Remove the skillet and carefully turn pears over in the hot butter. Transfer 2 halves to each warm serving plates and fill each half pear with chocolate mascarpone. Sprinkle with walnuts. Serve immediately with biscotti.

PEAR GALETTE WITH MASCARPONE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Combine ricotta cheese, mascarpone cheese, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla extract in a bowl. Place in the refrigerator.
• Place pears, cornstarch, lemon juice, brown sugar, cloves, and cinnamon into a bowl; mix well.
• Place thawed puff pastry sheet into the bottom of an 11-inch tart pan. Spoon cheese mixture onto pastry and spread evenly. Arrange spiced pear mixture on top of the cheese mixture.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 45 minutes.