A variant of the classic French dessert Poire Belle-Hélène, adapted here for a Breton crêpe.
Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 20 minutes per crêpe
FOR EACH CRÊPE
1⁄3 cup crêpe batter
2 tbsp chocolate sauce (see below)
1 pear, poached in white wine (see below)
A few caramelized almonds (see below)
POACHED PEARS
8 pears
3 cups white wine
2⁄3 cup brown sugar
1 orange, sliced
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1 cinnamon stick
1 tbsp honey
CARAMELIZED ALMONDS
2 1⁄2 tbsp sugar
5 tbsp) flaked (slivered) almonds
CHOCOLATE SAUCE
3 1⁄2 oz dark chocolate
scant 1⁄2 cup milk
To prepare the poached pears, peel the pears, cut in half and core. In a saucepan, combine the wine, sugar, orange, vanilla, cinnamon and honey. Bring to a boil. Add the pears and cook for 20 minutes over low heat. Remove from heat and let cool, covered.
To make the caramelized almonds, cook the sugar in a heavy saucepan over a medium heat until the sugar thickens to a rich brown caramel. Add the almonds, stirring to coat. Remove from heat and cool. Break up the hardened caramelized almonds and set aside.
To prepare the chocolate sauce, in a saucepan, combine the chocolate and milk. Heat on low, stirring occasionally until smooth. Keep warm.
Spread the batter onto a heated large, non-stick frying pan and cook until done. Fold the crêpe into a triangle and transfer to a plate.
Spoon some chocolate sauce over the crêpe. Top with a poached pear and sprinkle with caramelized almonds.
Taken from the book ‘Crêpes and Galettes from the Breizh Café’ by Bertrand Larcher – Originally published in the FrenchEntrée Magazine.