Pears ‘Belle Helene’ with Caramel Sauce, Chocolate Sauce and Ice Cream

Instructions

1. For the pears: In a saucepan bring the sugar, water, lemon, cloves and vanilla to the boil for 2 minutes and then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. (You may need to weight the pears down with a plate). The slower you do this, the better the pears taste.
2. Allow the pears to cool in the syrup and then roll them in the chopped pistachios. Place a spoonful of chocolate sauce in the centre of the plate and top with a pear. Place another spoonful of caramel sauce alongside the pear with a scoop of ice cream.
3. For the Caramel sauce: Bring the cream to the boil in a saucepan.
4. In a separate saucepan sprinkle half the sugar over the bottom of the pan and place over a low heat. Slowly caramelise the sugar and as it turns a soft gold colour, add the remaining sugar. Cook until you have a deep golden brown. Very carefully add the butter and stir it in and as the butter melts in to the caramel, add the cream. Cook until the cream boils, remove from the heat and pour into a heat proof bowl to cool.
5. For the chocolate sauce: Chop the chocolate into small pieces. Bring the remaining ingredients to the boil in a saucepan. Add the chocolate and stir in until melted, and continue stirring until the sauce thickens slightly.