How to make the perfect poires belle Hélène – recipe | Felicity Cloake's How to make the perfect …

Cool, juicy pears, cold ice-cream, hot chocolate sauce and a crunchy garnish – the perfect pudding It’s always slightly embarrassing to realise that you’ve missed a pop culture reference, even if it’s 162 years old, so I won’t dwell on the fact that until last week I was unaware of the existence of Offenbach’s 1864 operetta about Helen of Troy, La Belle Hélène , after which today’s dish is named.

In any case, the great French chef Escoffier was so moved by it, or perhaps by its popularity among Parisian diners, to name this simple dessert of vanilla-scented poached pears topped with hot chocolate sauce after the work’s heroine, played by the comely Hortense Schneider. Though other homages (he includes no fewer than five dishes with that name in his 1907 Guide Culinaire , none of which involve pears) may,…