Poached Pear, Chestnut & Vanilla Pavlova Recipe
- Felicity Vincent
- Nov 23, 2024
- 5 min read
A wintery desert centrepiece: easy, seasonal and beautiful.
Pears poached in spiced red wine, roasted chestnuts, vanilla chantilly and crispy meringue.
This makes the perfect desert for gatherings during the festive period, all the seasonal flavours, beautiful, light and full of delicious textures in every spoonful.
Ingredients (serves 4):
Vegan chocolate meringue recipe:
2 tins of chickpeas (water only)
100g caster sugar
1 Tbs cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
Red wine poached pears recipe:
4 pears
75cL red wine
1 lemon
1 cinnamon stick
1/5 nutmeg, grated
150g sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
Vanilla chantilly recipe:
150mL double cream
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
30g icing sugar
60g chestnuts
Method:
First up, the homemade vegan meringue. This is an optional step as you can also use shop bought of course.
Drain the chickpeas over a saucepan, save the chickpeas to make a stew, hummus, crispy snack.
Reduce the chickpea water on medium heat, leave it to simmer for 5 minutes or until it's thickened and coats the back of a spoon. Leave it to cool down and it should now have a similar consistency to egg whites.
Pour this into a large mixing bowl or stand mixer bowl. Add a pinch of salt. Whisk to soft peaks (when it changes colour), then slowly add in the sugar, vanilla and cocoa powder while whisking.
Keep whisking to stiff peaks until the sugar has dissolved (you can no longer feel it between your fingers).
Place a piece of baking parchment onto a baking tray.
Spoon the mixture into a piping bag, use a scraper to move the mix to the end of the piping bag and remove any air.
Place the bag between your thumb and index and twist until it starts to come out. Pipe the mix into nests or disks on the baking paper. Alternatively, you can just spoon it on and flatten it out with a pallet knife or even just a knife.
Bake in the oven at 100°C for 1 hour, then turn it off and leave it for another 20 minutes while the oven cools.
Now onto the poached pears, start by zesting a lemon with a vegetable peeler and slicing it in half.
Now peel the pears one by one, trying to maintain the shape of them, and remove the core by carving it out with the end of a knife. Rub each pear with the sliced lemon, this will stop the pears from browning.
In a saucepan, add the lemon zest, pear peelings, grated nutmeg, cinnamon stick, sugar and red wine. Bring this to a boil then simmer for 10 minutes. Move to a low heat and add the pears. Cover with a piece of baking parchment touching the liquid, and gently simmer for 40 minutes, flipping the pears half way through.
Remove the pears and leave them to cool down while reducing the poaching liquid on a simmer for 8-10 minutes (until it coats the back of a spoon).
Add the cream, icing sugar, vanilla paste and a pinch of salt to a large mixing bowl and whisk to soft peaks. Taste to make sure you are happy with the level of sweetness.
Roast the cooked chestnuts in a dry pan on medium heat for 3 minutes.
Assembly time, layer it all up and enjoy. Bon appétit!
More about this winter pavlova recipe:
Shortcuts:
Use shop bought meringue nests.
Serve it as an Eton Mess. Or plate up with broken up pieces of meringue and a spoonful of Chantilly if you want to avoid layering it all up and make it look a bit more like a dish from a modern small plates restaurant.
Keys to success:
Cook the meringue low and slow. Make sure the sugar is fully dissolved before you stop whisking.
Not much can go wrong with poached pears except overcooking. There comes a point where the pears can't hold it together anymore and become mush, so make sure to take them out of the poaching liquid when the knife easily goes through and they are perfectly soft and tender.
You can also use shop bought chestnut purée and either layer it up or swirl it into the chantilly cream.
Health benefits of chestnuts:
They're a good source of:
vitamin B6 which is required to convert food into energy and for the formation of haemoglobin;
vitamin B7 (biotin) which supports cell health and is needed to transform food into energy;
manganese which also enables us to release energy from food and supports cell health;
soluble fibre which helps lower blood cholesterol, and slows the release of energy from food, managing blood sugar levels. It also helps bulk stools with water and serves as a prebiotic, meaning it feeds our gut bacteria for a healthy microbiome which has its own multitude of health benefits;
insoluble fibre - helps to make you feel full, and soften stools for better digestive health. It is also associated with phenolic compounds and therefore antioxidant properties.
Chestnuts also contain other beneficial compounds, let's take a closer look:
Quinic acid (polyphenol, a component of tanins) - it has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, early studies suggest that it reduces brain inflammation and oxidative stress in particular, in turn protecting from neurodegeneration and Alzheimer's Disease.
Fumaric acid - an anti-inflammatory, it is used pharmaceutically to treat psoriasis an auto-immune inflammatory disorder.
Linoleic acid - a PUFA or 'healthy fat', it is required for healthy cell function, brain signalling, lung and kidney function, inflammatory responses. A high amount in the diet has been shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases and dementia.
Gallic acid (polyphenol) - antioxidant which notably supports blood sugar levels and reduces insulin sensitivity (chestnuts should still be consumed in moderation).
Ellagic acid (polyphenol) - antioxidant which reduces inflammation and oxidative stress on the heart and therefore reduces the risk of stroke and cardiovascular diseases. It reduces the risk of developing cancer, with a study suggesting it can target pathways to regulate cell growth.
Lutein (pigment) - has been proven to support eye health. It may slow down the effects of age-related vision loss and cataracts. Its anti-inflammatory properties may also support cognitive function and a decreased risk of cancers and cardiovascular diseases.
Zeaxanthin - also acts as an antioxidant in our eye's retina, preventing macular degeneration. Helps prevent cancer like all other antioxidants but also protects your eyes from ageing, protects your skin from UV, and some research indicates it may be beneficial to cognitive function.
Some vitamin C - which acts as a water-soluble antioxidant, protects cells, enables wound healing and helps maintain healthy skin, bones, cartilage and blood vessels; and is required to convert dopamine to noradrenaline.
Compared to other nuts, chestnuts are low fat but high in starch and fibre.
Mood Food - Calm:
Vitamin B6 - required in the conversion of tryptophan to serotonin, one of our feel good hormones linked to serenity and happiness - low amounts of B6 have been linked to tiredness, irritability and depression;
Quinic acid - converted to tryptophan in our GI tract (by our gut bacteria), it's another player in regulating our serene hormone serotonin;
Prebiotic polyphenols - among other benefits, our microbiome convert them to tryptophan (precursor to the good mood hormone serotonin);
Manganese - is required for brain signalling to support, in part, mood regulation.
Hopefully this makes you excited to try this and many other chestnut recipes during their season!
You can find lots of ideas on how to cook with chestnuts in my newsletter: https://felicityvincent.substack.com/
Video:
Cook along with this step-by-step video and learn how to make my poached pear pavlova recipe:
Photos:
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