Fennel Pod Poached Pears with Mascarpone Cream Pear Compote, Espresso Grand Fir Scented Ice Cream and an Espresso Lemon Verbena Caramel

(Serves 8)

Fennel Pod Poached Pears
8 ripe, firm pears
1 quart (1 L) water
2 12 ounce (375 ml) bottle of non-alcohol pear cider
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 vanilla bean
A handful of fresh fennel pods or 2 Tbsp dried fennel seeds

Peel the pears. Cut the top and the bottom of each pear so that it rests flat standing upright. Core the pears and slice them into 1/2-inch rounds. Meanwhile bring the poaching liquid—water, cider, sugar, vanilla and fennel—to a simmer. Place the pear slices into the hot liquid and cover with parchment paper. Reduce the heat to low and cook until the pears are soft. Remove the pear slices with a slotted spoon onto a paper-lined tray and put aside to cool.

Mascarpone Cream
3 gelatin leaves
8 ounces (250 grams) (mascarpone cheese
8 ounces (250 milliliters) whipping cream
1/4 cup icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place the gelatin leaves in enough water to submerge them. Soften the mascarpone cheese in a bowl. Place the cream, icing sugar and vanilla in the bowl of a mixer and whip until firm. Add one third of the cream to the cheese and mix until the cheese is smooth and there are no lumps. Fold in the rest of the whipped cream. Melt your bloomed gelatin in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add 1/4 cup of cheese mixture to the gelatin and warm through. Quickly fold the warm gelatin mixture back into the cheese so that the gelatin does not have a chance to set before it is fully incorporated. Cover and refrigerate.

Espresso Grand Fir Ice Cream
24 ounces (750 milliliters) milk
8 ounces (250 milliliters) whipping cream
1/4 cup grand fir needles*
1/4 cup espresso
1 Tbsp instant coffee (optional)
8 egg yolks
1 cup sugar

*Grand fir needles add a very intense flavor, called grand fir because the needles are different sized like the strings in a grand piano; a very big tree growing on Vancouver Island; could use other fir needles.

Place the milk, cream and espresso grounds in a sauce pan over medium-high heat and heat until the milk scalds. Remove the pan from the heat and let the milk infuse for no longer than 20 minutes. Strain the the espresso milk through a fine sieve and replace whatever liquid you have lost by adding more milk until you have 1 liter. Pour the espresso milk back into the saucepan and reheat. Meanwhile whisk your egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl. Pour one third of the hot milk over the yolks while whisking so as not to cook the yolks. Pour the egg mixture back into the sauce pan and cook over medium heat, all the while gently stirring until the mixture slightly thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Remove from heat; add grand fir needles and instant coffee (optional, depending on how strong a coffee flavor you would like) and let infuse until your mixture has cooled. Once cooled, strain and churn in an ice cream machine.

Espresso Lemon Verbena
Caramel
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup espresso
12 lemon verbena leaves

Pour one third of the sugar into a heated saucepan and allow it to melt. When it begins to turn a caramel color, stir it and gradually add the rest of the sugar. When the caramel has reached a dark amber color deglaze with the espresso. Throw in the lemon verbena. Turn off the heat and let the verbena infuse. Strain and cool.

Lace Tuile Batter
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup organic apple cider
6 Tbsp flour

Cream the butter and sugar. Add the apple cider followed by the flour. To make the tuiles spread onto an elongated triangle stencil that will wrap around a cylinder that is similar in size to that of your pear rings. Bake at 350 F for 5 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and while still quite warm lift the tuiles from the silpat and wrap around the cylinder until they hold their shape.

Pear compote
2 pears peeled, cored and cut into quarters
2 375-millilters bottles of non alcoholic pear cider or pear juice
3/4 cup sugar
2 pears peeled, cored and cut into small cubes

Place the pear quarters, the pear cider and the sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the pears are soft. Remove the pears from the liquid and puree in a blender until smooth. Take the reserved pear liquid and add the cubed pear. Cook until the cubes are tender and translucent. Remove the pear cubes from the liquid with a slotted spoon and add to the pureed pear. If you find that the mixture is too thick, add some of the pear juice.

To serve
Fill piping bag with mascarpone cream.
Place tuile and fill with poached pear rounds alternately with mascarpone cream, ending with mound of mascarpone cream. Garnish with day lily.
Drizzle espresso lemon verbena caramel and top with pear compote. Add a scoop of espresso grand fir ice cream.