Pear-Chocolate Clafoutis

I was hoping to enter this in the Hay Hay It's Donna Day #19 blogging event but it's only now that I read the rules carefully. It turned out that you have to follow a certain recipe using either berries or plums. Darn!

Never mind, I've always wanted to do this pear clafoutis recipe adapted from Green & Black's Chocolate Recipes cookbook. And I've never done clafoutis before I thought this would be a good chance to experience one.

If you don't like your clafoutis a little gooey in the middle then this is not the one for you. The extra liquid from the poached pears ensure that the middle part (at least) of the the cake is a bit wet. I absolutely love the moist, smooth texture of the conference pears with the sticky chocolate cake.

Pear-Chocolate Clafoutis

*For the poached pears:
6 pears
750 ml  red wine or 3 cups water
110 g  [1/2 cup] caster sugar (superfine)
juice of 1 lemon

*For the batter
110 g  [3/4 cup] self-raising flour
1/8 tsp fine salt
100 g  [1 cup] ground almond
165 g  [3/4 cup] caster sugar (superfine)
2 large egs
1 large egg yolk
175 ml  [2/3 cup + 1 Tbsp] full cream milk
75 g  unsalted or slightly salted butter
100 g  dark chocolate (minimum 60% cocoa solids)

• To poach pears:
  1. Peel pears but leave the stalks on (it's easier to turn pears around).
  2. Put wine (or water) in a saucepan with the lemon juice and caster sugar. Stir to dissolve sugar. Bring to boil slowly then lower the heat to a simmer.
  3. Cook/poach the pears the pears in the syrup for 10 minutes. Turn the pears from time to time.
  4. Take the saucepan off the heat and leave the pears in the liquid to cool for about 2 hours.
  5. After cooling, drain the pears and slice them in half lengthwise. Using a small teaspoon or melon baller remove the cores carefully. Cut off the stems if you like.


• For the batter:
  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/400°F/gas mark 6.
  2. Grease a 13 x 9-inch oval baking pan or two 9-inch baking pans.
  3. Break up the chocolate and melt with the butter in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Mix well then set aside and cool a little.
  4. Put the flour, almond, sugar and salt in a bowl and mix well.
  5. Whisk the eggs, egg yolk, and milk together then add to the flour mixture. Blend until smooth.
  6. Stir in the melted chocolate mixture until well combined.
  7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s) and arrange the poached pears in the batter placing the thin end facing towards the centre of the pan.
  8. Bake for 20-25 minutes. The centre of the cake will always be gooey because of the extra liquid in the poached pear so do not be alarmed if a skewer inserted in the middle does not come out clean.
  9. Serve hot or cold with some cream or creme fraiche.