Name: Tony Bilson: Babas with beurre Bosc pears and eau de vie
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 65 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 250 gm (1 2/3 cups) “00” flour; 15 gm caster sugar; 7 gm dried yeast (about 1 sachet); 8 eggs, at room temperature; 100 gm softened butter; 100 ml eau de vie de poire (see note); 250 ml pouring cream, whipped to soft peaks with 2 tbsp caster sugar (1 cup); Poached pears; 250 gm caster sugar; 1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped; 1 cinnamon quill; 6 small ripe, firm beurre Bosc pears, ends trimmed, thickly sliced crossways; Chocolate shards; 200 gm dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), melted; For dusting: pure icing sugar, sieved

Tony Bilson: Babas with beurre Bosc pears and eau de vie

Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for babas with beurre Bosc pears and eau de vie by Tony Bilson.

Serves 6

Prep

15M

Cook

50M

Total

1H 5M

Normally we associate babas with rum, but in this case I have used pear brandy. The grainy texture of the beurre Bosc pears contrasts beautifully with the soaked babas. Try these with a Château Guiraud Sauternes or a Peter Lehmann botrytis semillon.

Ingredients

250 gm (1 2/3 cups) “00” flour

15 gm caster sugar

7 gm dried yeast (about 1 sachet)

8 eggs, at room temperature

100 gm softened butter

100 ml eau de vie de poire (see note)

250 ml pouring cream, whipped to soft peaks with 2 tbsp caster sugar (1 cup)

Poached pears

250 gm caster sugar

1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped

1 cinnamon quill

6 small ripe, firm beurre Bosc pears, ends trimmed, thickly sliced crossways

Chocolate shards

200 gm dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), melted

For dusting: pure icing sugar, sieved

Method

Main

1.Preheat oven to 200C. Combine flour, sugar, yeast, 3 eggs and 2gm fine salt in an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix until dough pulls away from sides of bowl (1-2 minutes). Add 3 eggs, mix until mixture pulls away from sides of bowl (1-2 minutes), add remaining eggs and beat until smooth and elastic (8-10 minutes). Add butter a little at a time, beat after each addition until well-combined, cover and stand in a warm place until slightly risen (8-10 minutes).

2.Knock down dough and divide among six buttered 125ml metal dariole moulds, cover and stand in a warm place until dough rises to tops of moulds (12-15 minutes). Bake until golden and cooked through (12-15 minutes), turn onto a wire rack to cool.

3.Meanwhile, for poached pears, bring sugar, vanilla bean, seeds, cinnamon and 500ml water to the simmer in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar, add pear and poach until just tender (8-10 minutes). Remove pear with a slotted spoon and set aside. Strain syrup into a clean pan, simmer until reduced to 500ml (2-3 minutes), then set aside to cool. When cool enough to handle, peel pears and set aside until required.

4.Add babas to syrup and stand, turning occasionally, until saturated (12-15 minutes), then transfer to a wire rack. Then, 30 minutes before serving, spoon eau de vie over babas.

5.Meanwhile, for chocolate shards, pour melted chocolate onto a large sheet of baking paper, top with another large sheet of baking paper and roll to form a thin sheet. Refrigerate until crisp (8-10 minutes), break into rough shards, refrigerate until required. Just before serving, dust with icing sugar.

6.To serve, return babas to syrup and warm gently over low heat, then serve with poached pears, chocolate shards and whipped cream.

Eau de vie de poire is available from Spirit of France and select liquor shops.
This recipe is from the July 2010 issue of
. Drink suggestion by Tony Bilson
Notes