Chocolate with coriander and poached pear by Steve Drake - Print Recipe

1

For the chocolate Marquis, combine the chocolate and the olive oil and melt over a bain marie, stirring every so often to emulsify

120ml of olive oil
300g of 70% dark chocolate

2

Pour the double cream into a large bowl and whisk to very soft peaks. Keep in the fridge until required. Place the sugar into a small saucepan over a low to medium heat. Allow the sugar to melt and gently simmer until it reaches 115˚C

600g of double cream
200g of caster sugar

3

Meanwhile, place the eggs into a heat proof bowl and have an electric whisk ready. Just before the sugar reaches 115˚C, start to whisk on a high speed, slowly pouring in the hot sugar in a thin steady stream. Continue to whisk until the mix cools to room temperature

4 eggs

4

Add the cocoa powder to the chocolate and olive oil mixture and whisk to ensure there are no lumps. Fold in 1/2 of the chocolate mixture to the egg/sugar mixture. Add the remaining chocolate

100g of cocoa powder

5

Carefully fold in a 1/3 of the chocolate mixture to the semi-whipped cream, adding the remaining mixture a third at a time until all incorporated and smooth. Pour the mixture into square silicon moulds, then freeze

600g of double cream

6

For the chocolate sorbet, combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and place over a low heat. Whisk until thoroughly combined and the sugar and glucose dissolve

500ml of iced water
15g of milk powder
125g of caster sugar
50ml of glucose syrup
200g of cocoa powder

7

Pass through a fine strainer and allow to cool before churning in an ice-cream machine

8

For the poached pears, combine the wine and sugar in a small saucepan over a medium heat. Bring to a simmer and stir to dissolve the sugar completely. Add the pears and cover. Cook gently until tender in the centre

750ml of white wine
250g of caster sugar
2 Williams pears

9

Test this by placing a knife through the centre, if it reaches the middle of the fruit without much force, remove from the heat and allow to cool

10

For the coriander crumb, blend all the ingredients, except the butter, in a food processor until you are left with a fine powder

65g of caster sugar
65g of plain flour
20g of pistachio nuts
20g of ground almonds
5g of cornflour
15g of coriander

11

Preheat the oven to 150˚C/gas mark 2. Pulse in the butter to form a loose dough and spread onto a lined baking tray. Cook for 12 minutes turning every 4 minutes and roughly breaking up with a fork

60g of butter

12

Remove from the oven, allow to cool and using your fingers, break up into a crumb. Store in an air tight container until required

13

To serve, sprinkle the coriander crumb down the centre of the plate, place 3 small squares of the chocolate marquis on top of the crumb with a quenelle of chocolate sorbet in between each square

14

Place a thin slice of pear on top of the chocolate squares. Place a small dollop of the extra double cream cream on top of each pear slice, followed by a baby coriander leaf. Repeat for each plate and serve

Chocolate with coriander and poached pear

Ingredients

Chocolate Marquis

Chocolate sorbet

Poached pears

Coriander crumb

Method