Belle Hélène pear

In 1864, the success of the opera bouffe "La Belle Hélène" inspired Parisian chefs. Since then, the Poire Belle Hélène has become an emblem of French gastronomy. It continues to be reinterpreted, as this modern recipe by Alexandre Lauret shows.

This recipe for Poire Belle Hélène by Alexandre Lauret, pastry chef at Épisodes restaurant in Paris, is from Gault&Millau magazine n°11. Discover the ingredients and step-by-step preparation instructions.

Serves 8
Preparation time: 1 h 05
Rest : 1 h
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Chilling time: 12 h

Ingredients for Alexandre Lauret's Poire Belle Hélène

This recipe includes a smoked pear ganache, crème anglaise, pear gel and sorbet, and a chocolate pain de Gênes. Here are the ingredients.

For the smoked pear ganache

42.4 g cream (1)
6.4 g Trimoline
6.4 g glucose
21.3 g ivory couverture
8 g cocoa butter
21.3 g pear juice
96 g cream (2)
4.8 g gelatin mass

For the custard

18.4 g cream
18.4 g milk
7.4 g egg yolk
3.6 g sugar

For the Caribbean cream

43 g custard
17 g Caribbean couverture

For the pear gel

20 g pear purée
1.4 g lemon juice
3.2 g sugar
0.3 g nH pectin

For the pear sorbet

300 g pear purée
55 g water
45 g sugar
20 g atomized glucose
1.2 g Stab 2000
20 g cocoa nibs

For the chocolate pain de Gênes

160 g almond paste
148 g whole egg
28 g T55 flour
1.8 g baking powder
12.8 g cocoa powder, sifted
26.4 g dark chocolate
40 g butter

For the chocolate sauce

20 cl milk
200 g pear purée
20 g orange juice
100 g Caribbean chocolate
100 g Jivara chocolate

For the base

4 pears
800 g chocolate

Steps for Alexandre Lauret's Poire Belle Hélène

Here are the steps to follow to make Alexandre Lauret's Poire Belle Hélène. The ganache montée and the crémeux Caraïbes must be prepared the day before, as they need to rest in the fridge for 12 hours before making the recipe.

The smoked pear ganache. Bring the cream (1), Trimoline and glucose to the boil in a saucepan. Pour the hot mixture over the ivory couverture, cocoa butter and gelatine rehydrated with 4g water, then blend to obtain a smooth, homogeneous mixture. Add the pear juice and cream (2), mix and strain through a chinois étamine. Smoke the ganache in a gastro for 15 minutes, then chill for 12 hours.
Creamy custard. Bring the milk, cream and sugar to the boil. Pour the mixture over the yolks. Blend and check the temperature for an anglaise of 84° C, then strain through a fine sieve.
Caribbean cream. Pour 43 g of hot crème anglaise over the Caribbean couverture. Blend until smooth and shiny, with no lumps of couverture. Refrigerate for 12 hours.
Pear gel. Mix pear purée, lemon juice, sugar and nH pectin. Bring to the boil, blend and set aside in the fridge.
Pear sorbet. Heat water, sugar, stabilizer and glucose. Bring to 85°C. Pour over the pear purée. Blend, add cocoa nibs and whirl.
Chocolate pain de Gênes. Beat the eggs with the almond paste. Melt the butter and chocolate. Add the well-mixed mixture, then the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder. spread evenly on a baking sheet, 1.5 to 2 cm thick. Bake for 12 minutes at 160°C. Leave to cool, then cut into calisson shapes.
Chocolate decoration. Melt the chocolate, set the crystallization curve (48/50°C, drop to 27/28°C then rise to 31/33°C). spread the chocolate between 2 sheets of guitar paper. Using calisson cookie cutters, cut into 2 sizes, 2 cm x 1 cm and 3.5 cm x 2 cm, i.e. 15 large calissons and 29 small ones per plate. Let stand for 1 hour.
Chocolate sauce. Pour the milk, pear purée, orange juice, Caribbean chocolate and Jivara chocolate into a saucepan. Heat without boiling. Set aside in the fridge.
The pears. peel and halve the pears. Grill the pear halves on the barbecue for around 30 minutes, depending on the coals. Once cooked, pierce the pear with a calisson cookie cutter.
Finish and arrange. Stencil the pear confit on the plate. Place the pain de Gênes cookie and the dark chocolate cream on top of the pear. Pocket the smoked pear ganache with a plain tip. Finish with the small and large calissons. Pour the chocolate sauce over half the dessert for tasting. Top with the sorbet.