Chocolate hypnotizes the pear

One of the most classic combinations in pastry that combines the sweet, fresh and slightly sour taste of pear with the enveloping, caressing and intriguing flavor of chocolate. And if nowadays the watchword is revisiting, in this version a base of cocoa sponge cake with a slightly alcoholic pear juice soak is proposed, a filling lightened by the flavor of ricotta that is combined with the custard and enriched by the presence of sautéed and crunchy pear cubes, all accompanied by the gelé that contains the fusion of the two main ingredients and finally that tuft of dark mousse that overwhelmingly imposes itself on the remaining part but without hiding the flavors, on the contrary enhancing them .. a hypnotic dessert

Time of realization: 2 hours + rest times
Degree of difficulty (1 to 5): 4

Ingredients

Cocoa sponge cake
5 eggs
100 g 00 flour
30 g bitter cocoa
30 g starch
160 g sugar
1 vanilla bean

Wet with pears
100 g water
100 g sugar
100 g pear puree
50 g pear brandy (optional)
500 ml milk
4 yolks
4 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons of corn starch
½ vanilla bean

Ricotta filling
400 g of custard
250 g fresh ricotta
Lemon peel
30 g powdered sugar
6 g jelly
About 500 g of diced pears sautéed with butter, sugar and Rum and dried on absorbent paper

Pear and chocolate gelé for hypnosis mold
200 g pear puree (I blended the fresh fruit with a little pear jam that I make at home, otherwise I would add sugar but adjusting to taste)
50 g melted dark chocolate
5 g gelatin in sheets

decorations
Chopped hazelnuts
Tufts of custard with the addition of melted dark chocolate and rum
Dried pears
Melted and poured chocolate on parchment paper trying to give the shape of the fruit.

Procedure for making The chocolate hypnotizes the pear

Sponge cake
I operate the whisk of the planetary mixer with the eggs and sugar and let it whip for a long time (about twenty minutes).
In the meantime I preheat the static oven to 170 ° C.
I add the seeds of the vanilla pod and sift apart the powders that I am going to add little by little to the mixture, stirring with a spatula and gently from the bottom up.
Pour the mixture into a greased and floured 24 cm springform tin.
I cook for 45/50 minutes. Once out of the oven I made it cool well and then divided into 3 discs.

Pear Cubes In A Pan
I cut the pears into cubes and sautéed them with a little butter and sugar and then let them dry and cool on kitchen paper.

Custard
I heat the milk with the vanilla pod until it just comes to a boil. I mix the egg yolks with the sugar and corn starch and then pour in the milk having removed the pod. I put back on the fire and stirring I make it thicken. I let it cool quickly by spreading the mixture on a cold and wide plate. I cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge.

Ricotta Stuffing
I soften the gelatin sheets in cold water for about ten minutes, squeeze it and then dissolve it in a pan in a double boiler or in the microwave, mix it with the custard and mix well using a whisk. At the same time I pass the ricotta in the mixer with the icing sugar and lemon peel. I combine the two compounds and set aside.

Pear And Chocolate Jelly
I soften the gelatin with the same previous procedure, and then add it to the pear puree mixed with melted dark chocolate and pour into the silicone mold, taking care to make it adhere well.
I start to freeze.

Wet
I boil the water and sugar, when the syrup has cooled I add the puree and the distillate.

Assembly
First disc of sponge cake, I pass it wet and insert the filling and then lay a layer of sautéed pears
second disc and I repeat the previous operation, if desired I can also add some chocolate pieces together with the pears.
I cover the final disc with the remaining cream and place the frozen gelé disc on the surface
garnish with chopped hazelnuts and tufts of custard mixed with melted dark chocolate and a dash of rum.
The recipe was made by Serena Cuckoo.