Pear and vanilla charlotte

Wash and squeeze the lemon and measure 15 ml juice. Wash and peel the pears and remove their cores from underneath. Split the vanilla pods and scrape out their seeds. Simmer the water with 250 g sugar, 1 pod and its seeds, and the lemon juice. Add the pears and gently cook for about 20 minutes until a blade slides in easily. Cool in the syrup, drain and dice, removing any remaining fibres. Weigh out 500 g cooked pears for the charlotte.

Soak the gelatine in cold water for about 10 minutes. Separate the eggs and whisk the yolks with the reserved 125 g sugar. Heat the milk with the reserved 1 vanilla pod and its seeds. Remove the pod, gradually whisk the hot milk into the yolks and return to the pan. Stir over a low heat without boiling until the custard coats the spatula. Off the heat, stir in the squeezed gelatine until dissolved. Strain and cool without allowing it to set.

Whip the cold cream until softly holding its shape. Gently fold into the cooled vanilla custard while it is still fluid, lifting with a spatula.

Line the base of the mould with baking paper. Arrange the biscuits around the sides and over the base, trimming to fit with a knife. Alternate the Bavarian cream and diced pears, adding the biscuit trimmings. Smooth, cover and chill for at least 3 hours until set. Carefully unmould onto a plate.