Baked pears

If you drink a lot of champagne, you are never actually hung over the next day. Sparkling wine is less likely to give most people a hangover than a glass of still red wine. With this recipe from the California Wine Institute, however, you will be fine. They are delicate and fragrant, and have a sweet crunchy topping laced with coconut and chocolate. Pair with sparkling rosé wine or dessert wine. - TEXT EDITORS | IMAGE CALIFORNIA WINE INSTITUTE

Baked pears

What you need (6 people)

PERS

• 30 g brown sugar
• 15 g flour
• 10 g ground cinnamon
• 6 Bosc pears (approx. 900 g)
• 30 ml fresh lemon juice
• 120 ml water

CRUMBLE

• 120 g sweetened flaked (dried) coconut
• 125 g flour
• 45 g brown sugar
• 2.5 g sea salt
• 113 g unsalted cold butter, in small cubes
• 57 g bittersweet chocolate chips

This is how you make it

Preheat the oven to 190°C. In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar with 15g flour and the cinnamon.

Peel the pears, remove the core, quarter them and cut lengthwise into 1.25-centimetre slices. Mix them with the lemon juice in a large bowl. Add the cinnamon mixture and stir again. Spread the pear slices evenly in a buttered 23-by-33-centimetre baking dish and drizzle with the water. Bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes or until the pears are soft.

Meanwhile, for the crumble, mix the coconut, remaining flour, brown sugar and salt in a large bowl. Using your fingers, pinch in the butter to form a slightly moist coarse mixture with pea-sized crumbs. Spread the mixture on a baking tray and bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown (it can be done with the pears in the oven). Remove the crumble from the oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes.

Sprinkle chocolate evenly over crumble and let rest for at least 5 minutes before serving. Divide pear slices among 6 dessert plates and garnish with a spoonful of crumble. Top with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, if desired.

Wine

With this sweet dish, choose one of the sparkling wines from California. What also matches the spices is a fresh-fruited blend of grapes from Burgundy and Provence: cinsault, grenache and syrah. The bottles of Luc Belaire's Fantôme edition have luminous labels when you press a button. The producer is targeting the jet set on the Côte d'Azur and the world of American gangsta barbers, who like to pop corks and are charmed by the built-in LED light. LUC BELAIRE FANTÔME ROSÉ | GALL.NL | €35.99

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