Chocolate mousse with raspberry sauce and pear soufflé on pear compote

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 150 g high-quality chocolate (e.g. Valrhona Guanaja gran crus 70%)
• 3 eggs, separated
• 2 tbsp cognac
• 70 g sugar
• 1 bag of vanilla sugar
• 50 ml cream
• 2 pears (e.g. Abate) peeled, pitted, quartered
• 3 eggs, separated
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp butter, soft
• 4 tbsp water
• Butter for the molds
• Sugar, for example, for the molds
• 2 pears, peeled, pitted, halved
• 50 ml white wine
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• ½ tbsp lemon peel, untreated, grated
• ½ tbsp orange peel, untreated, grated
• 1 carnation(s)
• 1 stalk(s) cinnamon, small
• 2 tbsp pear brandy (Williams pear brandy)
• 300 g raspberries, preferably fresh
• 20 leaves mint, fresh
• 3 tbsp powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp raspberry liqueur

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour 15 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 15 minutes

a slightly more elaborate dessert to round off a festive meal

Except for the somewhat tricky finish of the soufflé, all components can be prepared a few hours in advance. First, prepare the mousse: Beat the egg yolks with the sugar and cognac in a double boiler until frothy and the sugar dissolves completely. Carefully melt the chocolate, using a double boiler if necessary. Add to the egg yolk mixture, mix, and let cool. Now beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, whisk the chocolate mixture with the cream until smooth, then fold in the beaten egg whites. Transfer to a dish and chill for at least 5 hours. For the raspberry sauce, sort out 20 good-looking berries and 8 mint leaves for later decoration. Purée the rest with a hand blender, pass through a sieve, and chill. For the compote, simmer all ingredients except the pear brandy very gently for about 15 minutes, until the pear halves are soft. Then remove the pear halves from the liquid and purée with the pear brandy, mixing in a little strained stock if desired, until the desired consistency is reached. For the pear soufflé, simmer the pears and sugar in water until soft, drain the liquid, and puree the fruit. You can prepare everything up to this point a few hours in advance, as long as you process the peeled pears immediately in both cases to prevent them from turning brown. Now, 15 minutes before serving, butter four serving ramekins about 5-7 cm in diameter and 5-7 cm high and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of sugar. Beat the egg whites until very stiff, gradually adding 2 tablespoons of sugar. First stir in 1 tablespoon of egg white to make the mixture smooth, then mix in the egg yolks and carefully fold in the remaining egg whites. Pour the soufflé mixture into the ramekins and warm briefly in a hot water bath. Then place in an oven preheated to 220°C for 8-10 minutes. To serve, spread the compote on one side of the plate and place a previously turned out soufflé on top of each one. If the soufflés are too thick to turn out, serve them in the dish. Unfortunately, the compote will then have to be garnished elsewhere on the plate. In any case, place a scoop of chocolate mousse on the other side of the plate and garnish with the raspberry sauce, if desired, or place the mousse directly on top of the sauce. Arrange the reserved whole raspberries on the side, if desired, and tuck two mint leaves into the mousse.