Milk chocolate yogurt with crispy almond phyllo, poached pears, and ouzo
This dessert was prepared by Chef Ana Sortun at a cooking demonstration on an Oldways Culinaria to Thessaloniki. The flavors of this are rich, but it’s not a heavy dessert. Don’t skimp on the Fleur de sel or Maldon salt! It’s a key ingredient in the recipe and makes a big flavor difference.
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6 ounces of good quality milk chocolate
1 cup of Greek whole milk yogurt
½ teaspoon Malden salt or Fleur de sel
4 pears (like Anjou, Bosc, or Bartlett), peeled, cut into quarters, stem and core removed
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons freshly-squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons ouzo
½ cup whole, blanched almonds, toasted and cooled
3 sheets phyllo
1 stick of clarified butter, melted
- In a double boiler, melt the chocolate and remove from the heat. Stir until it’s very smooth.
- Add half of the yogurt and whisk vigorously until smooth. Whisk in the remaining yogurt and salt.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour, but preferably 2 hours.
- Bring 4 cups of water to a boil over high heat and add one cup of sugar and the lemon juice. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the pears and place a circle of vented parchment paper over the top to keep the pears submerged and cooking evenly. Cook the pears until they are soft when pierced with a knife or fork, about 15 minutes depending on the ripeness of the pears. Remove the pears from the poaching liquid with a small strainer or slotted spoon and place them in a shallow container or baking pan to cool in an even layer. You can reserve the poaching liquid for another time and use some of it to make the caramel.
- In a medium or large sauté pan, combine 1 cup of sugar with 2 tablespoons water and cook over medium heat, without stirring, to a medium-colored caramel. Add pears to the caramel and stir, coating them. Add ¼ cup poaching liquid, honey, and ouzo.
- Cool the pears completely and then chop them, adding them back to the caramel.
- Pre-heat oven to 375ºF.
- Grind the almonds and sugar together until they are finely ground using a food processor fitted with a metal blade.
- Place a sheet of parchment on a sheet pan and place one phyllo sheet directly onto the prepared baking sheet. Lightly butter the phyllo and place another phyllo sheet on top. Lightly butter the second sheet and evenly scatter ¼ cup of nuts. Repeat with the remaining phyllo and nuts.
- Place a sheet of parchment paper directly over the top layer. Place a clean baking sheet on top of the parchment.
- Bake until light golden brown and crisp, about 10–15 minutes.
- Remove the top baking sheet and parchment and cool completely.
- Serve the chocolate yogurt with a spoonful of poached pears and crush the almond phyllo over the top.
Recipe courtesy of Ana Sortun for Oldways. Photo courtesy of Paola Garza for Oldways.
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