Poached pear , scented orange syrup, dark chocolate sauce

This yummy dessert i came up with whilst cooking in the chalet this winter. I love pears but i think the whole poached pear in red wine recipe is a bit "done to death" and quite minging actually! I also love the fact that it can be made with no effort and its super simple. Desserts are my least favourite thing to cook, i find them boring and i have zero patience so I'm always looking for new ideas that i can make easily and not get in too much of a stress about!

Serves 4 

What you need.......
4 good sized firm pears(although one week i used very very ripe, squishy pears and it still worked fine, just handle them carefully!)
1litre of orange juice
a splash of white wine
2 star anise
3 cinnamon sticks
50 grams of clear runny honey
200 grams of sugar
2 cloves
pinch of grated nutmeg
1 large orange
cold water.......

For the chocolate sauce.....
220 grams of dark chocolate(70% cocoa, i love Lindt or Green and Blacks)
50 grams of unsalted butter
a little double cream

What you do.......
Using an apple corer, or i find a peeler works well, remove the core from the pears.
Peel the pears, leaving the stalk on!
Place the orange juice, star anise, cloves, sugar, honey, nutmeg, and white wine into a pan.
Snap the cinnamon sticks in half and chuck those in too.
Mix well.
Sit the pairs in the pan and if there isn't enough liquid covering them completely, add cold water until it comes up to the stalks.
Bring the pan up to the boil and then reduce the heat and simmer for at least 40 minutes. The reason i don't give an exact time is because the pears will be cooked after about 25 minutes anyway but i like to keep simmering to reduce the orange juice a bit more.
After about 45 minutes to an hour take off the heat and when the pairs have cooled a little, remove them with tongs and set aside.
put the pan back on the heat and keep simmering until you have a lovely slightly thick syrup.
Using those handy tongs again remove and throw away the star anise, cloves and cinnamon sticks.
This syrup will keep fine until you are ready to use it, just pop it in the microwave for a minute or so to warm it through before hand.
For the chocolate sauce just get a small pan of water and a glass bowl. Place the bowl on top, not letting the water touch the bowl when its simmering!
Put the broken up chocolate, butter and cream in the bowl and simmer until its fully melted. Mix well!
If you need to warm the pear you can either pop it in a hot oven wrapped in foil for a few minutes or even microwave it...MINUS THE FOIL!! haha remember, it only needs to be slightly warm, not burn- your- mouth- off hot!
Grate some fresh orange zest into the warmed syrup, and pour a neat circle onto a lovely white plate.
Sit the pear in the centre and carefully pour the chocolate sauce until its dripping down the side and looking gorgeous!
Decorate with a star anise. mmm mmm :-)

chocolate bread and butter pudding with raspberry swirl sauce

Serves 6.......Oven 180c/gas 4

What you need......

10 slices of "day old" white sliced bread
...150 grams of dark chocolate, i love Green and Blacks, use anything that has 70% cocoa content
600ml double cream
120 grams of granulated sugar
1 tablespoon of cinnamon
5 tablespoons of brandy(or rum or tia maria....)
85 grams of butter
4 free range eggs

For the raspberry sauce swirl.....

1 tablespoon of raspberry jam
300 grams frozen or fresh raspberries
2 tablespoons of sugar
a little lemon juice

What you do......

First make the raspberry swirl sauce......
Combine all the ingredients and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved and the raspberries are defrosted(if using frozen!), or until the sauce is hot.
Cool slightly then blend it with a hand blender, or use a potato masher.
It doesn't have to be too smooth, however you prefer.

Next put the chocolate, cream, cinnamon, alcohol, sugar, and butter into a glass bowl and place on a pan of simmering water. The water must not touch the bottom of the pan!
While its all melting, stir occasionally with a whisk.
In a seperate bowl whisk the eggs well.
When the chocolate mix has all combined and melted remove from the heat and whisk both the egg and chocolate mixtures together.

Cut all the crusts off the bread.
Cut each slice into quarters.
Spoon some of the chocolate sauce onto the bottom on the oven dish then lay slices of bread overlapping until you have one layer covering the bottom.
Swirl some of the raspberry sauce on top.
Repeat this process, squishing each layer down gently with the back of the ladle after each sauce addition, until all the ingredients are used, finishing the top of the bread and butter pudding with a lovely raspberry sauce swirl making it look gorgeous!

Bake in the middle of the preheated oven for around 35-40 mins until the top is a wee bit crispy and you just wanna dive right into this gorgeous gooey chocolate heaven!