Chocolate & Pear Jalousie

Submitted by bluemoon downunder

"The second of two Chocoholic Heaven recipes I have posted from a recent issue of the Australian 'Women's Day'. Pears and chocolate and hazelnuts: YUM! What a winning combination! And it takes only 15 minutes to prepare."

 

• Ready In: 45mins
• Ingredients: 11
• Serves: 8

ingredients

• 150 g butter, at room temperature
• 1⁄2 cup caster sugar
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 cup hazelnut meal (see Notes)
• 200 g dark chocolate, melted (see Notes)
• 1⁄2 cup toasted hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
• 2 sheets puff pastry, thawed
• 800 g pear halves in natural juice, drained, sliced thinly
• 1 egg white, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon raw sugar
• whipped cream, to serve

directions

1. Preheat oven to hot, 200°C, and lightly grease and line a baking tray.
2. In a small bowl, using an electric beater, beat the butter and sugar together, until they are light and fluffy; add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each egg is added; gently stir in the hazelnut meal, melted chocolate and hazelnuts.
3. Cut one sheet of pastry into a 22cm x 24cm; and, leaving a 2cm border around all sides, cut 6 even slits across the remaining pastry sheet.
4. Place the trimmed pastry sheet on the prepared tray, spread with the chocolate mixture, leaving a 2cm border, top evenly with pear slices.
5. Brush around the border with egg white and place the remaining pastry sheet over the filling, press the edges of the pastry together to seal; brush the jalousie with the remaining egg white and sprinkle with sugar.
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the jalousie is golden and serve hot, sliced, with whipped cream.
7. NOTES: (1) If you cannot find hazelnut meal, make your own by processing 11/4 cups of hazelnuts until they are very finely chopped. (2) Melt chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl in microwave oven, on medium, in 30-second bursts, stirring after each burst, until melted.

Reviews

[Chef Kate]

This is very good and very pretty but a bit too much of a good thing. We all felt that the flavors of the chocolate, the nuts and the pears overwhelmed each other and didn't allow the flavor and the texture of the pastry to shine through. I halved the recipe to serve four and ended up with about 8 portions.