Dark Chocolate Mousse With Marsala Pears By Larissa Takchi

Change up your chocolate mousse and berry pairing – pears and chocolate are a match made in heaven! To check if a pear is firm, text the neck of the pear by gently squeezing the flesh near the stem.

Serves 8-10 individual jars
Preparation: 25 minutes
Cooking: 40 minutes plus 4 hours for setting mousse

Ingredients

• 3 firm pears
• 125ml full cream milk
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 2 tbsp. Nutella
• 240g dark chocolate, chopped into small chunks
• 600ml pouring cream, whipped
• 250ml marsala or port wine
• 100ml honey
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 vanilla pod, split lengthways
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 4 bay leaves
• A handful of hazelnuts
• Crème fraiche

Method

1. To make the chocolate mousse, place the milk and nutella in a saucepan over low medium heat and allow to come up just before boiling point. Meanwhile in a bowl, whisk together the egg yolk, sugar and pinch of salt until combined and place chocolate in a separate bowl.
2. When the milk is ready, gradually whisk it into the egg mixture until all combined and return mixture back to the saucepan over low medium heat. Cook whilst continuously stirring until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Take the custard off the heat and set aside. Stir to combine and pour over the chocolate. Without disturbing, allow the custard to melt the chocolate for 2 minutes. Whisk the mixture until smooth (if the chocolate hasn’t fully melted, simply return the entire mixture to the stove top over low heat and gently stir and melt through).
3. Allow the mixture to cool slightly. Fold through the whipped cream, pour into individual serving jars and allow to set in the fridge for 4 hours or overnight.
4. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Place the pears in a roasting dish, nice and snug. Add the marsala, honey, cinnamon, vanilla, lemon zest and bay leaves. Cover with foil and roast for 20 minutes. Uncover the foil and roast for a further 20 minutes. The pears should be soft and wrinkly. When cool enough to handle, slice the pears into quarters removing the seeds and core.
5. To serve, add a dollop of crème fraiche to the mousse jar, a wedge of marsala pear, drizzle with marsala cooking syrup, sprinkle with hazelnuts.

Larissa Takchi is 2019’s MasterChef winner who is known for her stunning and delicious desserts.

For more ins-pear-ation visit AustralianPears.com.au