Pear Gratin With Mascarpone Custard Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Halve apples lengthwise (quarter if large), leaving stem intact, and core halves with melon-ball cutter. Halve Seckel and Forelle pears or quarter Bartletts lengthwise, then core with melon-ball cutter and trim root ends.
• Melt butter in a 14- by 9-inch oval gratin dish or other 2 1/2- to 3-quart shallow baking dish in middle of oven, about 2 minutes. Stir in Calvados and 3 tablespoons brown sugar, then add fresh and dried fruit and zest and turn gently to coat. Cover dish tightly with foil and bake in middle of oven, gently turning fruit and basting occasionally with juices, until apples and pears are tender but not falling apart, about 1 hour. Remove dish from oven.
• Preheat broiler.
• Spoon 1/3 cup baking juices from baking dish into a bowl and stir in mascarpone and remaining 2 tablespoons brown sugar. Rearrange fruit, cut sides up, in baking dish to form an even layer, if necessary, and spoon mascarpone mixture over fruit. Put confectioners sugar in a fine-mesh sieve and sift over fruit. Broil gratin 3 inches from heat until confectioners sugar is caramelized, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Available in Italian markets and many supermarkets.

Steps:

• To make the custard, heat the milk in a heavy saucepan until it is almost boiling. In a separate bowl, beat egg yolks until they are light and pale-colored. Beat sugar into the yolks, tablespoon by tablespoon. Add flour and beat until smooth. Add heated milk to the yolk mixture in a slow stream, beating constantly. Beat until smooth. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and chill.
• When the mixture is thoroughly chilled, remove from refrigerator and whisk until smooth. Fold the mascarpone into the mixture. In a separate bowl, beat the cream until medium-stiff and fold into the custard mixture. Stir in vanilla and chill until ready to use.
• To make the gratin, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Melt the butter in a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Add sugar and stir constantly until a golden brown caramel develops. Remove from heat.
• Arrange the pear halves, cut side down, on top of the caramel and scatter minced ginger, if desired, over the pears. Cover the pears with foil and bake for 15 minutes or until tender when pierced with a skewer.
• Place two pear halves in each of six individual gratin dishes. Divide the caramel among the dishes. Pour about 1 cup of custard into each gratin dish, covering the pears. Place the gratin dishes on a baking sheet for easier handling and bake for 5 minutes. Remove from oven.
• Change the oven setting to broil. Place gratins on the upper rack of the oven and broil carefully until the custard bubbles and browns, about 1 1/2 minutes. Watch very carefully; do not burn.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter the sides and bottom of a 9-inch baking dish that is at least 2 inches deep or a 9-inch springform pan.
• Put the whole eggs plus the egg yolks and the sugar in the bowl of a mixer. Beat at high speed until you see pale yellow ribbons form.
• Mix in the rum and vanilla. Add the flour and mix well. Transfer to a mixing bowl.
• In the clean mixer bowl, whip the heavy cream to firm peaks, then fold it carefully into the egg mixture with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the buttered dish.
• Peel and core the apple and pear and slice them crosswise into thin half-moons. Arrange over the batter in the baking dish, alternating the apple and pear slices. Do not be concerned if they sink into the mixture; they eventually will end up embedded in it. Place in the pre-heated oven and bake until the top has turned golden brown, 45 to 50 minutes. Serve warm or chilled.

Steps:

• For the pears: Remove a large strip of peel from the lemon and set aside. Squeeze the juice of the lemon into a medium bowl filled with water. Peel, halve and core the pears, adding the pears to the lemon water as you work (this will prevent them from browning).
• Combine the wine, sugar, vanilla, cloves, cinnamon stick and reserved lemon peel in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and stir until the sugar dissolves.
• Remove the pears from the lemon water and add to the wine mixture. Boil the pears until tender, 8 to 10 minutes on each side. Remove the pears from the poaching liquid to a wire rack to cool. If desired, continue to boil the poaching liquid until syrupy, about 10 minutes.
• For the vanilla bean custard sauce: Combine the cream and milk in a medium saucepan. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add to the cream mixture along with the scraped bean. Place over medium heat until bubbles form around the edges, then remove from the heat and remove the vanilla bean.
• Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl until combined. Gradually add a little of the hot cream mixture, whisking constantly until combined. Gradually add the remaining cream, whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the saucepan. Cook over low heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon, about 6 minutes. Remove the custard from the saucepan and cool slightly.
• To serve, spoon some of the custard sauce onto serving plates and top each with a pear half. Dollop with whipped cream and sprinkle with candied pecans, if desired.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Spray a 9" cake pan with cooking spray and place the pear slices in the pan.
• Whisk the butter, eggs, milk, salt, granulated sugar, flour and vanilla in a bowl until smooth.
• Pour the batter over the pears. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the custard is golden and firm to the touch. Dust the top with powdered sugar before serving.

Steps:

• Position oven rack in the middle of oven; preheat oven to 375°; lightly butter and 11 x 7 inch baking dish.
• Drain the pear halves, reserving 3/4 cup of the syrup.
• Put pear halves on a cutting surface, flat side down, and score the rounded side with shallow, crosswise cuts; arrange the pears in the prepared baking dish.
• Add flour and sugar to a blender or food processor; blend or process until combined.
• Add in the mascarpone, eggs, vanilla, reserved pear syrup, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
• Blend/process until the batter is smooth, about 20 seconds.
• Pour batter over the fruit; sprinkle with the brown sugar.
• Bake custard until puffy and light brown and the center is set when gently shaken, about 25-30 minutes.
• Remove from oven and cool on a baking rack for 5-10 minutes; serve warm.