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A full view of Poire belle Hélène with chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and almonds, presented in a glass dish.

Poire Belle Helene Recipe

Pears and chocolate make a dream-worthy duo in this Poire belle Hélène. Warm poached pears sink into smooth chocolate sauce, creating a spoon-ready dessert that feels sweet and hard to resist.

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: French
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 4
Author: Manuela Zangara

Ingredients

Pears

  • 4 pears – peeled
  • 100 g – 3.5 oz icing sugar
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • 1 vanilla pod – split and scraped
  • 1 l – 4 cups water

Sauce and Decoration

  • 100 g – 3.5 oz dark chocolate
  • 80 ml – ⅓ cup heavy cream
  • 50 g – ⅓ cup sliced almonds – toasted
  • sweetened whipped cream and/or vanilla ice cream – to serve

Instructions

  1. Put the water into a saucepan, then stir in the sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla pod. Bring to a simmer and heat gently until the sugar dissolves.
  2. Peel the pears carefully, leaving the stalks intact. Slice a thin disc from the base of each pear so they can stand upright.
  3. Place the pears into the hot syrup and cover with a piece of baking paper to keep them submerged. Simmer for 20 minutes, then test with a small skewer to see if they are tender. If they need more time, cook for another 5 minutes and test again.
  4. When the pears are tender, leave them to cool in the syrup.

For the Chocolate Sauce

  1. Put the chocolate and cream into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, making sure the base of the bowl doesn’t touch the water.
  2. Stir until the chocolate melts and the sauce becomes smooth and glossy.

To Serve

  1. Drain the pears and plate them with the warm chocolate sauce.
  2. Add vanilla ice cream or sweetened whipped cream, then finish with toasted sliced almonds.