Riesling Poached Pear and Chocolate Ice Cream
I am easily lured in by things with my name in it. I think it comes from having a relatively uncommon name, and an even less common pronunciation of that name (it is hah-LAY-nah BTW). I was DEVASTATED when goth Helena was kicked off Season 10 of The Great British Bake Off. As an all-things-creepy-loving Helena myself, there was a kinship there she will never know…
All this to say, when my mother-in-law gifted me four pears that needed to be eaten, I researched and found a dessert—a Poire Belle Helene—and knew I had to make it.
Poire Belle Helene is a simple and easy to prepare dessert of poached pears dipped in chocolate sauce and served with ice cream. The dessert was created by Auguste Escoffier (yes, THAT Escoffier) and named after La belle Hélène, an opera by Offenbach, which premiered in 1864. The opera is a parody of the love story between Paris and Helen, set during the Trojan War. Apparently nothing says ancient Greece like… pears, ice cream, and chocolate?
Perhaps it has more to do with the beautiful, elegant melding of flavors. The chocolate, pears, and cream blend together to create a creamy, sweet bite full of rich flavor and texture. Similarly, Helen of Troy was known for her beauty; she was the ‘face that launched 1000 ships.’ (A line written by Shakespeare’s arch nemesis Christopher Marlowe in a play about necromancy. )
The Love of Helen and Paris by Jacques-Louis David (oil on canvas, 1788, Louvre, Paris)
To make the basic Belle Helene, all you need are pears, sugar, cream, and chocolate. It can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge until serving. This makes it an ideal dessert for restaurants and fancy dinner parties to impress your friends. You know…whenever we can have dinner parties again.
I could not find the original recipe that Escoffier created for the dessert, which gave me a lot of freedom to tailor it to my exact tastes. In addition to using Riesling, I added some warm spices to round out the flavor. To simplify the dish, I opted to cut out the middleman and turn the whole thing into ice cream. We all know I would have made my own ice cream anyway, so yes, this was how I simplified things.
Bon appétit!
Yummy fudge ripples and chunks of pear.
Poire Belle Helene (Riesling Poached Pear and Chocolate) Ice Cream
This is a versatile recipe. Simplify it completely by removing the spices or add in your favorite flavor.
Ingredients:
3-4 pears
2 cups Riesling*
¾ cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 cinnamon stick
1 vanilla pod, scraped
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
2 cups cream
1 cup milk
Ganache:
½ cup cream
½ cup chocolate chips
1. Prep your ice cream maker however their directions require (turn on the cooler, freeze the base, whatever you have to do).
2. Dice your pears into small pieces. They don’t have to be perfectly chopped as you will be puréeing half of them.
3. Place the diced pears in the high rimmed pan and fill with enough Riesling to cover the pears. About 2 cups of Riesling should work. Add the sugar, cardamom, vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger to the pan and bring the liquid to a boil. Lower the temperature and allow to a simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Strain the pears into a bowl, reserving the liquid, and set pears aside. Return the liquid to the pan and boil uncovered until reduced by half. Allow to cool for a bit.
5. Pour the reduced liquid and half of the pears into a blender and blend until a smooth purée has been formed.
6. In a large bowl, mix 2 cups cream, 1 cup milk, and the contents of the blender. Whisk together until fully emulsified.
7. Pour the mixture into the prepped ice cream maker, following the manufacturer’s instructions to churn.
8. While the ice cream is churning, make the ganache. Put the chocolate chips and heavy cream into a microwave-safe bowl. Warm for 30 seconds, then stir. Continue warming in 10-second increments until chips are melted and can be incorporated with the cream using a small whisk. Set aside.
9. When the ice cream is nearly finished churning, add the remaining cooked pears and allow to churn a few times to mix in.
10. Remove ice cream from the maker. When separating into containers for saving, dollop your chocolate ganache into the ice cream and mix 1-2 times to get nice streaking. Do not over mix, or you will end up with chocolate ice cream, which, while delicious, is not what you are going for.
11. Put contents in the freezer to firm up. Enjoy!
*You can also use half water, half Reisling, or all water. Or water and a splash of rum. Seriously, do whatever you want with this. It’s not finicky. Just make sure you have enough liquid to cover the pears.