Recreating a signature dessert by Nina Métayer at home is an instant guarantee that your guests will be impressed. And if you really want to go all out, go for her divine pear and chocolate charlotte, which takes a little time but is actually quite easy to make with a little skill and patience, without necessarily requiring a high level of expertise or hard-to-find equipment.
This little masterpiece is one of the recipes featured by the World's Best Pastry Chef 2024 (World's 50 Best) in her new cookbook Des gâteaux en famille (Hachette Cuisine): she shares her sweet specialties made at home with her two daughters and her husband. Psst: he is actually the one behind the sublime photos in this book, which we already can’t wait to wear out and splatter with pastry and chocolate as we work our way through our culinary attempts…
Preparation: 1 hr 30 min. Resting time: 1 night. Baking time: 26 to 27 min. Difficulty: 1 heart
Special equipment: 1 18 cm diameter cake ring; 1 plain 14 mm piping nozzle.
Ingredients
For 1 charlotte serving 6
Chocolate shards
- 200 g dark chocolate
Poached pears
- 1 l water
- 400 g granulated sugar
- 1 vanilla pod or 10 g vanilla powder
- ½ tonka bean
- 6 firm pears
Ladyfingers
- 70 g T55 flour
- 70 g potato starch
- 6 egg whites
- 120 g granulated sugar
- 5 egg yolks
- 50 g powdered sugar
Chocolate mousse
50 g dark chocolate
40 g milk chocolate
5.6 cl whole milk
2.75 cl whipping cream, 30% fat (1)
50 g egg yolks
5 cl whipping cream, 30% fat (2)
Steps
Chocolate shards
Temper the dark chocolate. To do this, prepare an ice bath by filling a large mixing bowl with ice cubes, then add cold water to cover them. Place the chocolate in a mixing bowl and melt it over a bain-marie, without exceeding 50°C. When it reaches around 48°C, remove it from the bain-marie using a tea towel, then place it in the ice bath for 5 seconds, stirring constantly. Remove it from the ice bath and stir for 10 seconds, making sure to scrape the bottom well to even out the temperature. Place it back in the ice bath for 5 seconds, then stir again for 10 seconds off the heat. Repeat this process until it reaches a temperature of around 28°C. Very slightly reheat the chocolate over the bain-marie for 2 to 3 seconds to bring it to around 30°C. Once the chocolate is tempered, spread it very thinly on a tray or on a sheet of parchment paper. Leave to crystallize in the refrigerator until assembly.
Poached pears
Heat the water. Make a dry caramel with the sugar.
When the caramel is slightly brown, deglaze with the hot water.
Add the vanilla pod and grated tonka bean.
Wash, peel and core the pears with an apple corer.
Place the pears in the syrup and cook over low heat for around 20 minutes. You should be able to easily pierce them with a knife: the pears should be tender but still hold their shape.
Remove them once cooked and leave them to drain in the refrigerator. Keep the syrup to soak the biscuits.
Ladyfingers
Preheat your oven to 180°C using the fan setting.
Sift the flour and potato starch, then set aside.
Whip the egg whites and gradually add the granulated sugar.
Gently fold in the egg yolks using a spatula.
Repeat the process with the dry ingredients.
Pipe the mixture using a 14 mm nozzle to form strips of approximately 8 cm and make large individual ladyfingers.
Also pipe 2 discs measuring 16 cm in diameter.
Sprinkle the ladyfingers with powdered sugar.
Bake at 180°C for 6 to 7 minutes, until nicely golden. Do not bake for too long; they should remain soft.
Leave to cool before removing the ladyfingers from the parchment paper.
Trim the bottom of the ladyfingers with a knife so that they are all the same height
and the final result is even.
Chocolate mousse
Partially melt the chocolates over a bain-marie.
Bring the milk and cream to a boil, then pour over the egg yolks and cook à l’anglaise (to 82°C), stirring constantly.
Pour over the chocolates and create a smooth emulsion with a spatula. Blend. Whip the cream (2) until soft. When the crème anglaise is around
45°C, combine the two mixtures.
Assembly
Break the cooled chocolate into large shards.
Set aside in the refrigerator.
Warm the pear syrup if it has cooled.
For the charlotte decoration, cut the pears into slices approximately 0.5 cm wide.
Keep the trimmings and cut them into pieces for the inside of the charlotte.
Place the 18 cm cake ring on a serving plate.
Place Rhodoïd inside the ring.
Position the large ladyfingers against the sides, flat side facing inward.
Make sure they are packed tightly together so that the mousse cannot escape.
Place the first biscuit disc in the center.
Trim if necessary.
Soak with pear syrup.
Pipe chocolate mousse into the charlotte, then add the poached pear trimmings and dark chocolate shards.
Add the second biscuit.
Soak.
Press down gently.
Cover with mousse and smooth the surface.
The next day, decorate the charlotte with the pear slices.
Lightly torch the pears to brown a few edges and give the charlotte some extra dimension.
Mum’s tip: You can use this recipe to make ladyfingers for babies: the girls absolutely loved them.
The chef’s tip: When piping your ladyfinger mixture, you can stick the ladyfingers together to create cartouchières.
