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  • Squashed Chocolate Soufflé with Drunken Pears & Star Anise

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    May 1st, 2011adminDessert, Recipes
    squased_chocolate

    Squashed Chocolate Soufflé with Drunken Pears & Star Anise
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    Recipe Type: Dessert
    Serves: 6
    Ingredients
    • Sauce
    • 375ml Merlot
    • 400g (2cups) Caster sugar
    • 6 Start Anise
    • 3 Beurre Bosc Pears, pealed, cored and halved with stems attached
    • Cake
    • 400g 80% Dark Chocolate
    • 300g Butter
    • 10 Eggs, separated
    • 35g (1/3 cup) Cocoa
    • 255g Caster Sugar
    • To Serve
    • Good quality double Cream
    Instructions
    For sauce:
    1. Combine wine, sugar, star anise and ½ cup water in a saucepan and stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves, then bring to the boil. Add pears, ensuring they are completely submerged, reduce heat to low and cook, covered, for 20 minutes or until pears are tender, then cool pears in cooking liquid. Strain pears and return liquid to pan, then simmer until reduced to a syrupy consistency. Set aside.
    For cake:
    1. Melt chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, remove bowl from pan and cool a little, then whisk in egg yolks, one at a time, until combined. Stir in cocoa and sugar until well combined. In a separate bowl, using and electric mixer, whisk egg whites until soft peaks form, then fold into chocolate mixture, in 3 batches, until just incorporated. Spoon mixture into a buttered and floured 28cm spring form tin and bake at 180C for 35-40 minutes or until cake puffs like a soufflé and is slightly set.
    2. Remove cake from oven and place a circle of baking paper over the cake, then place a cake tin base or flat plate over cake and weight with food cans. Cool at room temperature, then refrigerate overnight. Remove cake from tin and, using an 8cm pastry cutter, cut 6 rounds from the cake (do the middle first).
    To serve:
    1. Drizzle individual plates with pear syrup, place cake on plates and pear halves. Using 2 spoons, shape whipped cream into oval shapes and place on cake rounds.
    Notes

    - Undecorated cake will keep in an airtight container in a cool, dark place for up to 5 days.

    - To make “thicker” cakes use a 20cm spring form tin

    - Although I would usually not serve cream with a dessert, this recipe needs it to balance the strong flavors, so pick a good quality THICK cream and add a dollop to each plate before serving

     

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