Pears in Caramel and Chocolate Sauce

How to prepare pears in caramel and chocolate sauce

1. Put the water and sugar in a pot that fits the pears. Add all the aromatics (cinnamon, allspice, vanilla, star anise), add the lemon juice and zest and the ginger cut into large pieces. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover the pot and let it infuse for 15 minutes.
2. Peel the pears using a vegetable peeler. Leave the stems intact. Put the pears in the syrup above. Cover the pot and bring back to a boil. From the moment the syrup boils over the entire surface, time 5 minutes of boiling. Turn off the heat and let the pears cool in the syrup, with the lid on the pot.
3. After they have cooled completely, remove the pears and remove the cores as follows: cut a slice from the base and through there carefully remove the core, using a melon baller and a vegetable knife (see photo 4).
4. Put the pears back in the syrup and refrigerate the pot (poached pears are better cold) for at least a few hours, but ideally overnight. This way, the pears have time to absorb the syrup's aroma.
5. When you want to serve them, prepare the sauce. In a small pot, melt and caramelize the sugar until it has a deep golden color and smells nicely of caramel. Let it caramelize until it starts to smoke slightly.
7. Add the warmed cream (to avoid thermal shock) and stir quickly. Immediately remove the pot from heat and plunge the bottom of the pot in cold water. Stir for 1 minute, to cool it a bit. You will feel the caramel thickening.
8. Add the chocolate broken into pieces and the salt. Stir once, let the chocolate melt and then stir a few more times to combine. Pour the sauce into a pitcher and let it cool completely.
9. To serve: remove the pears from the syrup (drain them lightly) and place them in the center of two plates. Pour the caramel and chocolate sauce all around. Dust with a little cocoa powder.

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