Pear & Dark Chocolate Charlotte

Before starting this Pear and Dark Chocolate Charlotte recipe, organise all the necessary ingredients for the lady fingers.

For the lady fingers: Place the egg yolks in the stand mixer bowl.

Add the castor sugar.

Beat the preparation until it reaches the ribbon stage. The egg yolks should be foamy, pale and doubled in volume. Set aside.

Place the egg whites in a separate bowl...

... and beat at full speed. When the egg whites have a foamy consistency, add the castor sugar in 3 or 4 batches.

Beat for a few more seconds...

... and add the rest of the sugar in 2 or 3 batches.

Place the beater at maximum speed and add the rest of castor sugar. Continue beating until stiff.

When the egg whites are beaten, pour the flour and potato starch in a fine sieve...

... and sift together.

Add the sifted ingredients to the beaten egg yolks...

... and fold gently with a rubber spatula, making sure the preparation doesn't collapse. Go right down the bottom of the bowl with the spatula with one hand while you rotate the bowl with the other hand.

The preparation should be homogeneous at this stage.

Add 1/4 of the meringue.

Combine carefully...

... until homogeneous.

Add the rest of the meringue...

... and fold gently with the spatula.

This preparation should be piped and baked immediately.

Transfer the preparation into a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle Ø 12mm.

Grab a Vacherin ring Ø 18cm.

Using a pencil, draw the inside of the ring on a sheet of greaseproof paper.

The drawn circle has a diameter of 18cm.

Flip the baking parchment and place it on a Silichef® perforated baking sheet.

Using a pencil, draw two strips on a sheet of greaseproof paper to a width of 5cm. The strips should be slightly shorter than the height of the vacherin ring (6cm). I recommend using a graduated ruler for this operation.

Flip the baking parchment on a second baking sheet. Set aside.

Pipe the lady finger preparation into a spiral, starting from the centre of the drawing outwards.

The result should be as shown in the photo.

Pipe the lady finger preparation on the baking parchment into parallel lines, inside the two strip drawings.

Drizzle icing sugar over the lady finger strips...

... and over the disc.

Bake in a fan-assisted oven preheated to 180°C (gas 6) for about 12 minutes.

When cooked, remove from the oven...

... and place on your kitchen worktop. Leave to cool at room temperature.

Repeat the operation with the biscuit disc.

For the caramelized pears:Organise the necessary ingredients.

Peel the pears carefully with a peeler.

Cut them in half and remove the cores.

Cut the pears into small cubes (1cm size).

Pour the castor sugar in a hot frying pan, sprinkling it over the whole surface.

Melt the sugar until it caramelizes. This operation should be slow.

When the sugar has totally caramelized, add the pear dices...

... and cook for a few minutes while stirring, until the pear cubes are coated with caramel. Make sure the pear cubes do not turn into a mash and remain whole.

Transfer the cooked pear cubes into a food tray...

... and spread over the whole surface of the tray so they cool down faster.

In the meantime, trim the lady finger strips with a serrated knife, starting with one side.

Measure the height of the vacherin ring. The ruler shows 6cm.

Make a mark on the biscuit with a knife to create a width of 5cm (1cm less than the ring height).

Trim the biscuit strip lengthwise to create a width of 5cm.

Using a mousse ring Ø 16cm, cut the lady finger disc.

Place a vacherin ring Ø 18cm on a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper. Place a cake board Ø 18cm at the bottom of the stainless steel ring. Line the inside of the ring with a strip of acetate roll (height 6cm).

Line the inside of the ring with a strip of biscuit (side with icing sugar in contact with the ring).

Place the second biscuit strip inside the ring. Cut the biscuit excess with scissors.

This is what the result should look like at this stage.

Carefully arrange the biscuit disc at the bottom of the vacherin ring.

The result should be as shown in the photo.

For the chocolate mousse: Organise all the necessary ingredients.

In a saucepan, pour the sugar and 5 to 10cl of water. Bring to a boil.

In the meantime, crack the whole eggs in the stand mixer recipient.

When the boiling intensity starts reducing, check the temperature with a laser thermometer. When the temperature reaches 121°C, take the pan away from the heat.

Beat the whole eggs in the stand mixer, then reduce the speed and gradually add the boiling sugar, pouring it against the inner side of the bowl (to avoid splashes of hot sugar).

Increase to maximum speed and continue beating until cooled down completely.

At this stage, the preparation is pale and doubled in volume (this is called 'pâte à bombe'). Set aside.

In the meantime, melt the dark chocolate over a bain-marie.

When melted with no more lumps, take the chocolate away from the bain-marie and set aside.

Beat the cold whipping cream until you obtain a whipped cream. Set aside.

Add the melted chocolate to the pâte à bombe.

Combine carefully with a rubber spatula...

... until homogeneous.

The consistency and colour should be homogeneous: make sure no solid bits remain.

Add the chocolate preparation to the cold whipped cream.

Combine carefully...

... until homogeneous. This chocolate mousse has a solid consistency and makes a perfect filling for cakes.

Transfer the chocolate mousse into a piping bag. The use of a nozzle is not necessary.

Using a pastry brush, steep the biscuit with the cold syrup (prepared beforehand with 20cl sirop 30° baumé and 3cl pear moonshine. Steep the biscuit disc at the bottom as well as the strips on the sides.

Pipe the chocolate mousse at the bottom of the charlotte.

Using a small palette knife, create a volcano shape so that the mousse goes all the way up the rim.

Place half of the caramelized pears (without the juice) over the chocolate mousse.

Cover the pears with chocolate mousse...

... and even the surface with a small palette knife, making sure all the pear cubes are covered.

Place the rest of the caramelized pears (without the juice) over the chocolate mousse...

... and pipe the rest of the chocolate mousse on top.

Spread the chocolate mousse over the whole surface, making sure the biscuit is covered on the sides.

This is what the result should look like at this stage.

Even the chocolate mousse by sliding a large cranked spatula over the surface.

Cover with a sheet of cling film and refrigerate for at least 2 or 3 hours. Up to this stage, this recipe can be prepared the day before and stored in the fridge.

When the poached pears have cooled down, take the charlotte out the fridge and remove the cling film.

Gently remove the ring by sliding it upwards. The acetate between the ring and the cake will facilitate this operation.

Remove the acetate strip around the chocolate mousse.

The result should be as shown in the photo.

Place the poached pears on paper towel in order to absorb as much moisture as possible.

Cut the pears into thin slices with a knife.

Arrange the poached pear slices over the surface of the charlotte, in the shape of a swirl...

... as shown in the photo.

Caramelize the surface of the pear slices with a blow torch, very briefly. Make sure you don't heat the charlotte though, otherwise the chocolate mousse might melt.

Apply mirror glaze (reheated in the microwave beforehand) over the surface of the pear slices with a brush.

The pear and chocolate charlotte is ready. Store in the fridge until ready to serve. Enjoy this delicious dessert!