Recipe

Chocolate and coconut dessert friands

Feb 28, 2011 1:00pm
  • 45 mins cooking
  • Makes 9 Item
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Ingredients

Chocolate and coconut dessert friands
  • 5 (200g) paradise pears
  • 1/2 cup (110g) caster (superfine) sugar
  • 2 cup (500ml) water
  • 100 gram dark (semi-sweet) chocolate
  • 90 gram butter, chopped coarsely
  • 6 egg whites
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup (80g) desiccated coconut
  • 1 cup (160g) icing (confectioners') sugar
  • 1/2 cup (75g) plain (all-purpose) flour
  • 100 gram dark (semi-sweet) chocolate
  • 1/4 cup (60ml) pouring cream
  • 25 gram butter
  • 1 tablespoon walnut or hazelnut-flavoured liqueur

Method

Chocolate and coconut dessert friands
  • 1
    Peel and halve pears. Place sugar and the water in a small saucepan, add pears, bring to the boil. Reduce heat, simmer, covered, about 20 minutes or until pears are tender.
  • 2
    Preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fan forced). Grease 9-hole (½-cup/125ml) oval friand pan. Place pan on an oven tray.
  • 3
    Break chocolate into a medium heatproof bowl, add butter. Place over a medium saucepan of simmering water (don't let water touch base of bowl), stir until smooth. Cool 5 minutes. Whisk egg whites in a medium bowl until frothy, add chocolate mixture, extract, coconut, and sifted icing sugar and flour, stir until combined.
  • 4
    Divide mixture evenly into pan holes, top each with a pear half, cut-side up. Bake about 20 minutes. Stand friands in pan 5 minutes before turning, top-side up, onto a wire rack to cool.
  • 5
    Make chocolate sauce. Break chocolate into a medium heatproof bowl, add cream and butter, stir over medium saucepan of simmering water until smooth (don't let water touch base of bowl). Stir in liqueur.
  • 6
    Serve friands with warm chocolate sauce.

Notes

We used chocolate with a 70% cocoa content. If paradise pears are unavailable, substitute 5 canned pear halves and omit step 1.

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