Roasted Pear with Chamomile

Pears and Chamomile are two things I like consuming separately, therefore I was intrigued when making this interesting plated dessert. I liked the idea of roasting the pears, in pastry we often poach fruit, roasting provides a similar flavor through an entirely different technique. I would call this a fall or winter dessert for a couple of reasons. One because pears are in season during cold months and two because warm fruit with a warm tea infusion also give off a winter vibe.

This plated dessert also calls for pear sorbet, making it both a  hot and cold dessert, which means that plating to service will need excellent execution. This plated dessert will consist of the following components:

• Chamomile Jus: A sweet infusion to tie together the flavors 
• Pear Sorbet: Small quenelle that sits on top of a pear chip
• Hazlenut Financier: Small cake to act as the base for holding the roasted pear  
• Pear Chips: Sliced with a mandolin, soaked in sugar then dehydrated 
• Sugar Garnish: Tuile to sit a top 
• Chamomile Sugar: Used for roasting the pear 
• Roasted Pear with Chamomile: The primary component and reason why a customer would buy the dessert

Production
Chamomile Jus
Ingredients: 5 7/8 oz water; 1/8 oz of dried chamomile; 3 5/8 oz of sugar; 7/8 oz lemon juice

Process: Boil the water and add the chamomile, remove from heat and allow for infusion for about 10 min. Strain through a coffee filter and reserve the liquid. Caramelize the sugar, once the sugar turns light brown in color, bring the infusion back to a boil and slowing stir into the caramel to create the jus. Add the lemon juice and set aside until use.

Pear Sorbet 
Ingredients: 1/8 Sorbet stabilizer; 2 5/8 oz of sugar; 5/8 oz dextrose; 1 3/8 oz powdered glucose; 3 3/8 oz of water; 1lb 8 oz of pear puree

Process: Mix the stabilizer with 1/4 of the sugar and mix the rest of the sugar with the glucose and dextrose. Warm the water in a saucepan, when the temperature reaches 86F, add the sugar/glucose/dextrose mixture. Continue to heat and 113F, add the sugar/stabilizer mixture and bring to a boil.  Remove from heat onto an ice bath. Store overnight and process in an ice cream maker.

Hazelnut Financier
Ingredients: 3 1/4 oz Hazelnut Flour; 6 1/8 oz butter; 5 3/8 oz sugar; 6 1/2 oz egg whites; 2 5/8 oz pastry flour; 1/4 tsp baking powder; 1/4 tsp baking soda.

Process: toast the hazelnut flour and let cool, meanwhile brown the butter and set aside. Miz half of the sugar with the egg whites and whip to soft peak. Sift the dry ingredients and fold them along with the remaining sugar into the egg whites. Fold in the brown butter and pipe into dome shaped molds. Bake in a convection oven at 350 for 15 min.

Pear Chips 
Use a mandolin to slice pears in to super, super, almost paper thin slices. Soak the slices in simple syrup for 15 min, then place the soaked pears between two silpats. Bake/dehydrate in a low oven (200 F) for several hours, until the pears are crisp.

Critical point with pear chips is maintaining size. This can be done by using two silpats. If you don't cover the top, the pears will shrivel and not look as appealing.

Sugar garnish/tuile
Cook sugar over moderate heat until a light brow and thick constancy is reached. Immediately remove from heat and place into a water bath. Using a fork or spoon, create a web-like pattern that will act as the garnish.  Work quickly, you only have 3-4 min until the caramel will seize.

Roasted Pear: 
Ingredients: 3 oz chamomile sugar; 5 firm pears, peeled-halved-cored; 1 1/4 oz butter.

Process: Toss the pears in the chamomile sugar. Place the butter in a saucepan and sear the cut side of the pear until gold brown. Transfer to the oven and bake for 20-25 min. Make sure the pears are soft. This dessert would be ruined if the primary component was raw!

Plating
A white plates works well with this dessert. It brings out the colors in the pear and the pear chip. I went for a rectangle to highlight the pear on one end and the sorbet on the other.

Place the financier in one corner of the plate, carve out a small piece on top to allow for the pear to sit on top, as horizontal as possible. Increase the height by adding the caramel garnish. On the opposite end, place three slices of raw pear the add a quenelle of pear sorbet on top. Place the pear chip on top of the sorbet and dot the jus in a semi circle around the edge of the pear, creating an implied connection between both ends of the plate.