Mushrooms and pear, comprising
– pear mousse,
– chocolate twigs,
– pear jelly,
– sweet cocoa pastry,
– a quenelle of pear sorbet.
Equipment used
– Silikomart Tartufino mould
– Baking paper
– Silicone mushroom mould
– Brown velvet spray
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Ingredients
Pear mousse
✔70g puréed pears
✔30g single cream
✔10g caster sugar
✔1g gelatine
Brown velvet spray
A few milk chocolate shavings
Pear jelly
✔ 90g puréed pear
✔ 10g caster sugar
✔ 2g gelatine
Cocoa shortcrust pastry
✔ 80g flour
✔ 25g caster sugar
✔ 40g butter
✔ 5g cocoa powder
The recipe
Makes 3 plates
Pear mousse
✔70g puréed pears
✔30g single cream
✔10g caster sugar
✔1g gelatine
Soak the gelatine sheet in a bowl of cold water until softened.
Heat the pear purée in a saucepan for a few minutes (blended ripe pears or blended pears in syrup). Remove from the heat and add the drained, softened gelatine, stirring well. Set aside.
Whip the well-chilled single cream with an electric whisk, adding the icing sugar. Add the warmed pear purée. Assemble the dessert.
Assembly
Fill the ‘Mushrooms’ silicone mould with the pear mousse.
Chill for at least 1 hour to allow the jelly to set properly, then place in the freezer for at least 3 hours.
Pear jelly
✔90g puréed pear
✔10g caster sugar
✔2g gelatine
Place the gelatine sheet in a large bowl of cold water. Blend the pears, then heat them in a small saucepan. Add a little sugar if necessary if your pears aren’t very sweet. Remove from the heat and add the drained, softened gelatine. Fill the Silikomart Tartufino mould. Chill until the jelly sets, then transfer to the freezer.
Chocolate shortcrust pastry
✔ 80g flour
✔ 25g caster sugar
✔ 40g butter
✔ 5g cocoa powder
Mix all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl, spread the mixture onto a baking tray and bake for a few minutes at 175°C. Leave to cool. The mixture will harden as it cools. Set aside until you are ready to serve your dessert.
Turn out your pear mousses. Immediately spray the brown velvet spray onto the mushroom caps only. I protected the mushroom stalks with a sheet of kitchen roll. Then place them straight away onto your serving plate, as once they’ve started to thaw, it won’t be possible to do so afterwards.
Plating
Place your sweet pastry on each plate, followed by 3 mushrooms per plate. Add your pear jelly balls as well. Chill everything until ready to serve.
Just before serving, add a quenelle of pear sorbet, moulded in advance using the Silikomart quenelle mould.
For the tree branches: I melted a little milk chocolate. I put it into a piping bag. I used a slate that I’d previously placed in the freezer to make sure it was really cold. I cut a fine tip off my piping bag and piped lines of chocolate onto it in the shape of branches. On contact with the very cold slate, the chocolate sets straight away.
