Chocolate & Pear Jalousie

Total Time: 45 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 150 g butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 cup hazelnut meal (see notes)
• 200 g dark chocolate, melted (see notes)
• 1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
• 2 sheets puff pastry, thawed
• 800 g pear halves in natural juice, drained, sliced thinly
• 1 egg , lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon raw sugar
• whipped cream, to serve

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to hot, 200°c, and lightly grease and line a baking tray.
• 2 in a small bowl, using an electric beater, beat the butter and sugar together, until they are light and fluffy; add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each egg is added; gently stir in the hazelnut meal, melted chocolate and hazelnuts.
• 3 cut one sheet of pastry into a 22cm x 24cm; and, leaving a 2cm border around all sides, cut 6 even slits across the remaining pastry sheet.
• 4 place the trimmed pastry sheet on the prepared tray, spread with the chocolate mixture, leaving a 2cm border, top evenly with pear slices.
• 5 brush around the border with egg and place the remaining pastry sheet over the filling, press the edges of the pastry together to seal; brush the jalousie with the remaining egg and sprinkle with sugar.
• 6 bake for 25-30 minutes, until the jalousie is golden and serve hot, sliced, with whipped cream.
• 7 notes: (1) if you cannot find hazelnut meal, make your own by processing 11/4 cups of hazelnuts until they are very finely chopped. (2) melt chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl in microwave oven, on medium, in 30-second bursts, stirring after each burst, until melted.