Chef Craig Guenther - Winnipeg Winter Club - March 9, 2015
Pear & Chocolate Truffle Tart
Pears
- 1 32 oz bottle dry red wine
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 whole allspice berries
- 1 vanilla bean split lengthwise
- 6 Anjou pears, peeled but with stems intact
Truffles
- ½ cup heavy (whipping) cream
- 7 oz bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces
Filling
- 1 cup all –purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 5 oz (1 ¼ sticks) unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 2 large eggs
Prepare pears: In a medium saucepan, combine wine, sugar and allspice. Scrape in vanilla seeds, add pod as well, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Add pears, reduce heat to low, and cook for about 20 minutes, or until pears soften slightly. Set aside to cool. At this stage, the pears can be refrigerated in the wine sauce for up to 2 weeks.
Prepare truffles: In a small pot, bring cream just to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat and mix in chocolate until smooth. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for about 1 hour. Shape chilled mixture into ½ inch balls.
Prepare filling: In a medium bowl, mix flour, sugar, butter, cocoa powder, baking powder and eggs until smooth.
Preheat oven to 320F and assemble tarts: Remove pears from wine mixture. Insert an apple corer into the bottom of each pear, pushing it upward to remove core but leaving the top of the pear intact. Make a small cut just below the stem to release the core and provide an opening through which the truffle can bubble out. Press a truffle into hollowed centre of each pear, and place pears in 1 cup ramekins. Pour filing evenly into each ramekin. Arrange ramekins on baking sheet and bake until filing sets, about 20 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.