Roasted pears and verbena mascarpone mousse

Verbena-Infused Cream

Pour 200 ml liquid cream into a small saucepan over medium heat, bring to a simmer, then turn off the heat and add half of the coarsely chopped 4 sprigs Verbena.

Stir well, cover, and let steep for at least 30 minutes.

After this time, pour the contents of the saucepan into a mixing bowl through a fine-mesh strainer, pressing the verbena leaves firmly to extract as much flavor as possible.

Discard the verbena leaves, and place the cream— covered with plastic wrap or a lid—in the refrigerator.

Roasted Pears with Verbena

Peel 4 Pears, cut them into 4 pieces lengthwise, and remove the cores.

Cut each quarter into small pieces, place them in a bowl, drizzle with the juice of ½ lemon, and toss to coat.

In a skillet over medium heat, melt 50 g butter and the other half of the verbena; stir until the butter browns slightly and takes on the flavor of the verbena.

Add the pear pieces and lemon juice, sprinkle with 30 g caster sugar, and cook until the pear pieces are tender and lightly browned.

Note: Remove the verbena from the pan and discard it as soon as the first leaves begin to fall off the stems during cooking.

Transfer to a plate or bowl and let cool.

Mascarpone Cream

In the mixing bowl containing the verbena-infused cream, add 75 g Mascarpone and 30 g icing sugar.

Whisk everything together, then place the bowl in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Once the cream is thoroughly chilled, whip it to make mascarpone cream.

If possible, then transfer it to a piping bag fitted with a fluted tip.

Assembly

Fill the verrines with the pear pieces, pressing them down gently.

Spread a generous layer of mascarpone cream over the pears, and garnish with a small sprig of verbena.

Do this for all the verrines, and set them aside in the fridge.