Ingredients

• 125g/5oz strong bread flour
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 1 tsp fresh yeast
• ¼ tsp salt
• 25ml/1fl oz milk
• 1 free-range egg
• 65g/2oz butter
• softened
• 75g/2½oz white marzipan
• 1 lemon
• 4 pears
• peeled
• stem retained
• 200g/7oz caster sugar
• 1 vanilla pod
• split
• seeds scraped
• 150ml/5fl oz milk
• 150ml/5fl oz double cream
• 1 vanilla pod
• split
• seeds scraped
• 4 free-range egg yolks
• 40g/1½oz caster sugar

Directions

• For the brioche
• place the flour
• sugar
• yeast
• salt
• milk and egg together in a bowl and beat for 3-4 minutes
• or until well combined. Add the softened butter and beat until the mixture comes together to form a soft
• smooth dough. Place the dough into a clean bowl and leave to rise in a warm
• dry place for one hour.
• Remove the dough from the bowl and knead on a floured work surface for 1-2 minutes
• then shape into four golf ball-sized balls. Place onto a baking parchment-lined baking tray.
• Roll the marzipan out to a 3-5mm thick slab
• then cut out four discs
• each slightly smaller than the diameter of the brioche balls. Place the discs on top of the brioche balls to loosely cover
• then leave to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.
• For the pears
• preheat the oven to 200C/390F/Gas 6.
• Peel the lemon and place the zest into a saucepan. Remove any pith from the lemon and squeeze the juice into the saucepan. Add the squeezed lemon to the pan.
• Add the pears to the saucepan
• plus 150g/5oz of the sugar
• the vanilla pod and seeds. Add enough water to just cover the pears. Bring to the boil
• then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes
• or until the pears are tender. Remove the pears from the liquid with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Allow to cool.
• Place a pear on top of each brioche ball
• pressing down slightly. Place into the oven to bake for 15-20 minutes
• or until the brioche is golden-brown and crisp. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly.
• Heat a frying pan until hot
• add the remaining sugar and 50ml/2fl oz of water and cook until a light caramel forms. Drizzle the caramel over the pears.
• For the crème anglaise
• place the milk
• cream
• vanilla pod and seeds into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Turn off the heat.
• Place the egg yolks and caster sugar into a bowl and whisk until pale and creamy. Pour a dash of the hot milk into the egg mixture and whisk to combine
• then slowly pour in the rest of the milk
• whisking all the while. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer. Stirring frequently
• cook for 3-4 minutes
• or until the mixture is just thickened (but not as thick as English custard).
• To serve
• place one pear brioche onto each serving plate and spoon the crème anglaise alongside.