Poire Belle-Hélène

1. Peel and halve the pears and carefully cut out their cores.

2. In a saucepan bring water to a simmer with the sugar and the split vanilla pod until you have a light syrup.

3. Poach the pear halves gently in the syrup for about 15 minutes until tender, then let them cool in the liquid.

4. Melt the dark chocolate with the warmed cream into a smooth, glossy chocolate sauce.

5. Drain the pears and place them on a plate (classically on a scoop of vanilla ice cream).

6. To serve, drizzle the warm chocolate sauce generously over the pears.

Tip: The Poire Belle-Hélène is an elegant pairing of syrup-poached pear and warm chocolate sauce. Always poach the pear in gently simmering, not boiling, syrup so it keeps its shape and stays silky.