Chocolate Crunch Topping
4oz cocoa powder
1lb of flour
4oz chopped nuts
4oz jumbo oats
8oz of Butter
4oz of soft brown Muscavado sugar
Sieve cocoa powder and flour together then rub in the butter to form a sandy texture, add the sugar then the nuts and oats finally add a pinch of salt. Bake at around 200c for 30-40 minutes until thoroughly cooked, keep an eye on this and turn mixture over regularly to make sure it is cooked right through and crunchy, allow to cool.
Poached pears
- 750g golden caster sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick/ star anise/ cloves
- 1 lemon cut in half
- 1 orange cut in half
- 1 vanilla pod, split lengthways
- 6 ripe pears peeled
Method
- 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 then simmer for 20 minutes to infuse the spices.
- Drop in pears, cover and gently poach for about 30 minutes 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 finish
- Dice the pears
- Mix 6 spoons of fromage frais with half a pint of thickened the double cream
- Build up layers of the chocolate crunch, pears and cream in a tall glass
- Garnish with finely sliced strips of candied orange peel and chopped nuts
- Dust with cocoa powder