Pears With Raspberries And Meringue Recipes

RASPBERRY PEAR TART

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine flour and sugar; cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in nuts. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of an ungreased 11-in. fluted tart pan with removable bottom., In a large bowl, combine the pears, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and lemon zest. Add raspberries; toss gently. Pour into crust. Bake at 425° for 25 minutes., For topping, in a small bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar and lemon zest; cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in nuts. Sprinkle over filling., Bake 15-20 minutes longer or until filling is bubbly and topping is golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Refrigerate leftovers.

PEAR AND RASPBERRY CRISP

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, toss pears, raspberries, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and vanilla. In 8- or 9-inch square glass baking dish, spread fruit mixture.
• In medium bowl, mix remaining ingredients except ice cream until crumbly. Sprinkle over fruit.
• Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until pears are tender. Cool 15 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream.

QUICK SAUTE OF PEARS WITH RASPBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• With a stainless steel knife, peel and core the pears. Cut them into eighths. Rub them with lemon so they do not discolor. Set them aside in a covered bowl in the refrigerator until you are ready to use them. Melt the butter in a large skillet. Saute the pears over high heat for 3 to 4 minutes or until they begin to brown. With a slotted spoon, transfer the pears to a serving platter. Deglaze the pan with liqueur and raspberry preserves and reduce until syrupy and thick. Spoon over the pears and garnish with almonds and frozen yogurt or whipped cream if you wish.

RICE SOUFFLE WITH PEARS AND RASPBERRIES

Steps:

• To make the Poached Pears: In a small saucepan, combine pears, water, sugar, and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil and lower to a simmer. Poach the pears for 12 to 15 minutes. Allow to cool. Slice each half into 4 slices. Reserve.
• To make the Raspberry Compote: In another small saucepan, combine raspberries, sugar, liqueur, and water to a boil. Cook for 1 minute. Turn off heat and reserve.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Melt 1 tablespoon of butter and brush onto a 10-inch saute pan or ovenproof mold. Sprinkle with bread crumbs. Set aside.
• To make the Rice Souffle: In a small saucepan, combine rice, milk, vanilla bean, and 2 tablespoons of butter. Over low heat, cook for 10 minutes or until all the liquid has been absorbed. Transfer to a mixing bowl and cool to room temperature. In a mixing bowl, combine egg yolks and powdered sugar. Beat until light and ribbon-y. In another mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks. Slowly add the sugar and continue to beat until firm. Fold egg yolk mixture into cooked rice. And then fold in the egg white mixture. Pour half of the rice mixture into prepared pan. Add pears and cover with the remaining rice mixture. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, prepare the meringue. Beat the egg whites to soft peaks. Slowly add the sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a no. 9 plain tip. Cover the baked rice with the meringue. Sprinkle with shredded coconut and broil until golden.
• To serve: spoon Raspberry Compote onto serving plates and place rice souffle on top.

PEARS WITH RASPBERRIES AND MERINGUE

Steps:

• Peel the pears using a swivel-bladed paring knife. Cut away the stems.
• Combine enough water to cover the pears when added and 4 tablespoons lemon juice and add the pears as they are peeled.
• Cut the pears lengthwise in half. Scoop out the cores, and a little of the meat, of each half to form a nice-sized cavity.
• Combine the 3 cups water with 1 1/2 cups of the sugar and the vanilla bean or extract. Bring to the boil and add the pear halves and the remaining 1 tablespoon lemon juice. When the mixture returns to the boil reduce the heat and cook about 20 minutes or until pears are tender when pierced with a fork. Remove the pears and reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Let the pears cool.
• Put half of the berries in the container of a food processor or electric blender and blend while gradually adding the reserved 1 cup of pear-cooking liquid and the orange juice. This mixture may be used as is, but it is best to put it through a fine sieve of the sort known in French kitchens as a chinois, pressing to extract as much liquid as possible. There should be about 1 1/3 cups.
• Fill the cavity of each pear with about 3 of the remaining berries. Quickly invert the pears on an ovenproof serving dish.
• Preheat the broiler.
• Beat the egg whites until stiff and gradually beat in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Continue beating until stiff. Spoon the resulting meringue into a pastry bag outfitted with a star-shaped tube (No. 3B). Squeeze out the meringue in star patterns over the pears. Pour the sauce around the pears. Place the dish under the broiler about 4 inches from the source of heat. Broil briefly until the tips of the stars are browned. Garnish around the sauce with a circle of the remaining raspberries.

TRAY-BAKED MERINGUE WITH PEARS, CREAM, TOASTED HAZELNUTS AND CHOCOLATE SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F and line a baking sheet with a sheet of waxed paper.
• Put your egg whites into a squeaky clean bowl, making sure there are absolutely no little pieces of egg shell or egg yolk in them. Whisk on medium until the whites form firm peaks. With your mixer still running, gradually add the sugar and the pinch of salt. Turn the mixer up to the highest setting and whisk for about 7 or 8 minutes, until the meringue mixture is white and glossy. To test whether it's done you can pinch some between your fingers - if it feels completely smooth it's ready; if it's slightly granular it needs a little more whisking.
• Dot each corner of the waxed paper with a blob of meringue, then turn it over and stick it to the baking sheet. Spoon the meringue out onto the paper. Using the back of a spoon, shape and swirl it into a rectangle. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 1 hour or until crisp on the outside and a little soft and sticky inside. At the same time, bake the hazelnuts on a separate sheet in the oven for 1 hour or until golden brown.
• Drain the cans of pears, reserving the syrup from 1 can. Cut each pear half into 3 slices. Pour the pear syrup into a saucepan with the ginger, if using, and warm gently over a medium heat until it starts to simmer. Take off the heat and snap the chocolate into the saucepan, stirring with a spoon until it's all melted.
• Take the meringue and hazelnuts out of the oven and leave to cool. Place the meringue on a nice rustic board or platter. Whip the cream with the sifted icing sugar and the vanilla seeds until it forms smooth, soft peaks. Smash the toasted hazelnuts (in a kitchen towel) and sprinkle half of them over the top of the meringue. Spoon half the whipped cream over the top and drizzle with some of the chocolate sauce (if the sauce has firmed up, melt it slightly by holding the saucepan over a large pan of boiling water). Divide most of the pear pieces evenly over the top. Pile over the rest of the whipped cream and pears. Drizzle with some more chocolate sauce, then sprinkle over the remaining toasted hazelnuts with some grated orange zest. Serve straightaway. If you're making this in advance, get everything ready and assemble at the last minute.

RASPBERRY MERINGUE HEARTS

Steps:

• Place egg whites in a small mixing bowl; let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Beat egg whites, cream of tartar and salt on medium speed until soft peaks form. Add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on high until stiff peaks form and sugar is dissolved. Fold in chopped almonds and vanilla. , Preheat oven to 300°. Drop meringue into 6 mounds on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Shape into 4-in. hearts with the back of a spoon, building up the edges slightly. Bake for 35 minutes. Turn oven off; leave meringues in the oven for 1 to 1-1/2 hours. , For filling, place raspberries in a food processor. Cover and process until blended. Strain and discard seeds. In a small saucepan, combine the cornstarch, pureed raspberries and jam until smooth. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Cook and stir for 1 minute or until thickened. Cool. , To serve, spoon sauce into meringue hearts. Place scoop of sorbet on top. Sprinkle with sliced almonds. Garnish with fresh raspberries if desired.

PEARS IN PORT WITH MERINGUE CREAM

Steps:

• Pour the port into a large pan with 600ml water, add the sugar and cinnamon, then heat until the sugar dissolves. Add the pears, bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for 20-30 mins until tender all the way through. They are ready when a cocktail stick can be easily pushed through each one. Depending on the size of your pan, you may need to cook the pears in 2 batches using the same port syrup, or turn the pears several times as they cook so they become an even colour. Let the pears cool in their syrup, preferably overnight to allow the syrup to really stain them. Will keep for 3 days in the fridge.
• Check the consistency of the syrup. If it is very thin, boil it in a pan to reduce the amount and concentrate the flavour.
• To serve, whip the cream with the sugar and vanilla until it holds its shape, then fold in the meringue. Sprinkle with the cinnamon. Arrange the pears in a shallow dish and spoon over the syrup. Allow guests to help themselves to both pears and cream.

PEAR-RASPBERRY PIE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425°F.
• To prepare the pie shell, divide the ball of dough in half, setting one half to the side. On a clean, lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough with a rolling pin until it forms a 10-inch circle. Fold the circle in half, place it in a 9-inch pie plate so that the edges of the circle drop over the rim, and unfold the dough to completely cover the pie plate. Set the pie shell to the side while you make the filling.
• To prepare the filling, in a large bowl, mix together the pears, the raspberries, 3/4 cup sugar, the lemon juice, and the lemon zest and let the ingredients sit for 5 minutes to bring out the juices. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and the cornstarch. Sprinkle the sugar mixture over the fruit and toss until the fruit is thoroughly coated. Place the fruit mixture in the pie shell, distributing it evenly. Dot the filling with the butter.
• To prepare the top crust, roll out the second half of the dough with a rolling pin until it forms a 10-inch circle. Fold the dough circle in half and place it over the filling, with the straight line of the half circle running down the middle of the pie. Unfold the circle so that the entire pie is covered. Using your thumb and index finger, crimp the edges of the pie together to seal in the filling, and then use a fork to puncture the top of the pie 5 or 6 times. Brush the top of the pie and crimped edges with heavy cream to create a perfect, golden brown finish.
• To bake, place the pie plate on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 375°F and continue baking for approximately 35 minutes, or until the pears are tender. Transfer the pie plate to a wire cooling rack and allow the pie to cool and set for 1 1/2 hours before serving.
• Pear-Raspberry Pie is best served either at room temperature or warmed at 350°F for about 10 minutes. It will keep at room temperature overnight and can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.