Soft and Crisp Nigel Slater's Simple Cooking

When I was a kid, we used to go on holiday

to the same place every year. And I looked forward to it

because the place we stayed at had this dessert that was

pears with ice cream and chocolate sauce.

And it was one of my favourite things

and this is just a slightly grown-up version of that.

Made with fresh pears.

Not canned, which they were in those days.

Poach the pears in sugar syrup.

A little lemon juice will stop them going brown.

I'm adding a vanilla pod,

but a few drops of vanilla extract would work too.

When the pears have been simmering in their syrup,

for about 15-20 minutes,

just test them with the point of a knife

to make sure they're really, really soft and tender.

They should be on the verge of collapse.

Let the pears cool in the syrup

and then put them in the fridge to chill while preparing the filling.

I like to whip cream by hand,

so I can stop the second it reaches the perfect texture.

Take no notice of anybody who says whip it to firm peaks.

That's too far.

You want it to be soft and voluptuous.

It should just hold its shape on the whisk.

I don't want to whip it any more than that.

And then keep that really cold.

And I've got the lovely soft fruit, I've got the softly whipped cream,

but I want something crunchy as a change of texture.

For that I use some expensive biscuits.

They can be anything, sometimes brandy snaps,

sometimes ginger biscuits with chocolate on them.

Sometimes just little Florentines.

Which ever ones you use the only really important thing

is that they're crisp and crunchy.

You only need a few of these lovely biscuits.

A little goes a long way.

And I'm filling these very generously because, you know,

it's a pudding, it's special.

I'm just going to go for it.

The final indulgence -

a trickle of melted dark chocolate.

I'm going to pop that in the fridge,

just so that last bit of chocolate

goes crisp on top of the cream.

I can't think of a better way to round off an evening meal.

But the perk of being the cook

means I don't have to wait that long.

I mean, of course the flavours work, they're classics.

It's the textures that make that so special for me.

It's the crisp biscuits, the soft cream, it's the juicy pears

and then that last little bit of very crisp chocolate on top.

It's truly, truly gorgeous.

This sweet treat is a delight to make.

And even more enjoyable to eat.

A childhood memory made real.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd