While I’m visiting my family in Japan, I have asked several blogger friends to blog-sit for me and today’s sitter is Charles from Five Euro Food.
It’s been a truly wonderful experience for me to learn new dishes and recipes from Charles. Originally from the UK but now living in France, Charles exposed and introduced many European dishes to me that I never knew about. It’s very exciting for me to follow his blog because I have never been to Europe and it’s always been a dream of mine. He is a nice supportive gentleman who answers each everyone’s questions with sincere care. His blog is like a cozy private cooking lesson and he creates a very warm atmosphere on his blog.
Charles not only makes very budget-friendly recipes that all of us can appreciate, but his recipes are very easy to follow with step-by-step pictures and clear instructions. Check out his Swedish Waffles and Gluten-Free Crisp Bread for example. He pays close detail attentions to his creations which is why his recipes are all very clear and well written. If you are a visual learner, you will love his video recipes with a cool British accent.
Now please welcome Charles with this easy and delicious French-inspired dessert.
*****
I’m a 29-year-old English guy, living and working in France for the past 7 years. I’ve always loved being in the kitchen – ever since making my first macaroni cheese for my family when I was about 7. I’m very honored to be here guest-posting for Nami today while she’s taking a well-needed vacation – I’ve been reading her site for many months now and really love the food she makes – such beautiful food and photography is always a pleasure to see. When she asked if I wanted to guest post for her I was very touched, but I just hope my dish can be as interesting, and appetizing as the wonderful things Nami normally posts herself.
I notice that it’s not so often that she posts desserts, and as I am English, I live in France, and my wife is Swedish, I had three different countries to draw inspiration from. I finally settled on something which I feel is wonderful in that it’s fast and easy to prepare, can be customized in any one of a hundred different ways and looks very impressive, plus everything sounds more fancy in French, right?!
The dish is also cheap to prepare, which fits in nicely in the theme of my site, FiveEuroFood.com. I knew I wanted to start blogging about my kitchen adventures – I also knew I wanted to have a creative outlet and a way of slowly improving my food photography. I figured making dishes to serve two or more people, for less than the cost of one burger meal in a fast-food joint was a worthy goal and so my site started from there.
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Flambéed Pear Purses with Caramel Sauce and Ganâche
Ingredients
For the “Purses”:
- 2 pears (ripe)
- 3 sheets filo pastry
- 20 g sugar
- 20 g unsalted butter
- 30 g unsalted butter (for brushing)
- 3 Tbsp brandy
For the Caramel Sauce:
- 180 g sugar
- 100 ml heavy (whipping) cream
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
For the ganâche:
- 50 g dark Chocolate
- 50 ml heavy (whipping) cream
Instructions
- Start by peeling, coring and finely chopping the pears.
- Next, melt the 20g of butter in a large frying pan and add in the chopped pears and 20g of Caster Sugar. Cook through for a couple of minutes until the pear juice starts to form a nice syrup with the sugar. At this point, pour in the brandy and allow to sizzle vigorously for a couple of seconds before setting it alight with a lighter or match. Allow to burn out, shaking the pan every few seconds.
- Melt the remaining 30g of butter for the purses either in a pan or placing in the microwave on high power for a few seconds. Cut the filo pastry sheets in half width-ways, so you get 6 pieces. Layer them on top of each other, brushing the top of each bottom sheet with butter before placing a new sheet on top. Once all three sheets are in place, brush the top again with butter.
- Preheat your oven to 220ºC (425ºF) and meanwhile place half of the cooked pear mixture into the centre of the pastry sheets. Bring the corners together and press gently at the top to form a small pouch or bag shape. Brush liberally again with butter and place onto a lightly greased baking sheet. Repeat the process again for the second purse and then place into the preheated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until a rich golden brown.
- While the purses are baking place the sugar for the caramel sauce into a pan and melt over a medium heat, stirring all the time. When the sugar has completely melted down to a rich, brown sauce add in the cream. At this point the sauce will froth up a lot so watch out and stir well. When the bubbling has subsided add in the butter and stir until melted. Set aside and allow to cool.
- Next, melt the chocolate in another pan over medium heat, stirring all the time until completely melted. When ready, pour in the cream and stir well to blend. Place the purses onto serving dishes and serve the sauces with them. Sprinkle with a little powdered sugar if desired.
I was just going to go to work out a bit then I come here and I am mesmerized by your dessert. Right now its like a torture becauce I NEED to try your purses with the ganache and caramel sauce. How can I work out now. O.O Thanks for the great share!
Haha – working out or eating caramel and chocolate? Now that’s a touch decision 😀
A lovely looking recipe and we are coming up to pear season now too!
Charles, though I can’t have filo pastry but I can enjoy the flambeed pear with caramel sauce and ganache. Wonderful post on Nami’s site.
Thanks Balvinder – it’s possible to make the parcel with other things – some people use thin pancakes/crepes if that helps!
Yes, I’ll definitely take a few of these Charles! Just beautiful. I love the presentation too. 🙂
Thanks Kristy 🙂 The flambeeing was especially fun 😀
I love pears!!! What a beautiful and delicious dessert…
This looks so heavenly! I have to get outside of my comfort zone and flambé something!
Wow! Such a lovely dessert and wonderful post. I love dessert with apple fillings like this! Super delicious!
A lovely guest post and dessert! Thanks for making me discover a new blog.
Cheers,
Rosa
Charles, that is just stunning! I have tried making phyllo purses in the past, but haven’t had good luck with getting them to stay together. Yours look absolutely delicious.
Thanks Cucina – the trick is making sure the pastry is sealed as quickly as possible after opening the pack, before it goes dry, and a hefty amount of butter as “glue” 🙂
Welcome guest-blogger Charles. 🙂 Thank you for sharing another lovely french dessert that would impress any dinner guest or family member. Again, something that seems complicated is transformed into simple clear steps for the novice to manage especially if the sauce and ganache are done ahead of time.
Thanks A_Boleyn – it’s super easy to put together… I hope you’ll give it a try one time 🙂
Yay, Big Charles fan here!! and this recipe is simply gorgeous in all languages 🙂 (my personal preference is French but the term “pear purses” is pretty cute too). The combination of pear, chocolate and cream sounds positively heavenly Charles…but, wait, I haven’t even gotten to the caramel yet… What a fabulous dessert and well-timed with the holiday weekend. This is a keeper for sure. Thank you Nami for bringing us Charles from your home today!
Thanks Kelly! 🙂 These make a wonderfully easy dish to serve up to people after a holiday meal – and they’re easy to make too so they won’t take too much time away from spending time with your guests too!
How excellent to find Charles here, Nami!!! You have the best guest posters 🙂
Charles, these pear purses are stunning! Plating is gorgeous, too…like a work of art. Thanks for sharing this recipe…I’d love to give this a shot!
Thanks so much Liz – compared to how difficult they actually are, they’re so easy – I hope you decide to give them a try some time 🙂
Oh, this is a very delicious recipe, and the presentation in the pocket makes it very interesting. Thanks Charles for sharing this to us.
Nami, I know you are on vacations, but just want to thank you for all your inspiring ideas and how you teach me about your culture. That is why I gave you an award: http://mividaenundulce.wordpress.com/2012/04/05/tengo-un-versatile-blogger-award/
what a great combo of flavors, I would love to try these someday!
Charles, it looks extraordinary! Beautiful photos, perfect post and a wonderful, elegant recipe! The purse looks so cute, I can imagine the “wow”s of your guests when you bring this dessert.
Thanks so much Sissi – It’s so simple but it looks so intricate – it’s all the delicate folds of the pastry I think trick people into thinking it’s something complicated 😀