Poached pears in a chocolate and "baileys" custard with a flapjack crumble topping.

Ingredients

• 250 g caster sugar
• Big squeeze of lemon juice
• Three strips of pared orange zest
• i big tsp of vanilla bean paste
• I cinnamon stick, broken in half
• 6 ripe but firm pears, peeled with stems intact.

For the custard:

• 300 ml whole milk
• 300 ml double cream
• 4 free range egg yolks
• 50 g caster sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornflour
• 200 g dark chocolate, chopped
• A gulg of Baileys.

For the topping:

• 30 g self-raising flour
• 70 g rolled porridge oats
• 20 g caster sugar
• 20 g light muscovado sugar
• 50 g chilled butter, cubed
• 40 g roasted hazelnuts
• 1 tbsp golden syrup.

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Preparation

• Preheat the oven to 200c. Put the flour, oats and sugars in a bowl. Add the butter and rub with fingers to form big crumbs.
• Stir in the rest of ingredients, mixing to form big clumps. Spread over a bakign sheet and bake for 15 minutes until golden.
• Remove and break into big clumps when melted, and leave to cool and crisp.
• To poach the pears, put the sugar in a large pan, and add 1 litre of water. Place on a medium heat. Stir until sugar has dissolved.
  
• Add remaining ingredients, then add peeled pears. Simmer, and cook for 15-20 minutes until almost tender.
• If these are being made in advance, leave to cool submerged in the syrup- this means they won't turn brown.
• For the custard, heat the milk and cream into a pan until just about to boil. In another bowl, mix the yolks, sugar and cornflour.
• Add the chocolate. Pour the milk mixture over the egg mixture, and stir until the chocolate melts.
  
• Return to a clean pan and place over a gentle heat, stirring well, until the custard coats the back of a wooden spoon. Stir in the Irish Cream and remove from the heat.
• Serve how you like.

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