This recipe is out of one of my favourite recipe books, A Neoclassic View of Plated Desserts, a whole book devoted to completely amazing and decadent desserts. I cooked my final for my chef training out of this book and over the years have been slowly meandering my way through it.
I would eat this cake anytime, actually I eat most cakes whenever I can! But in New Zealand Easter represents the transition of summer to autumn, hence the pears. This might not be so applicable to those of you in the Northern Hemisphere so maybe you might like to substitute the pears for something more seasonal – I think stone fruit would go nicely, or even strawberries (I’m drooling at the thought of it).
The original recipe calls for Poire William (a pear liqueur) in the mousse, but I dislike this so I used the cooking liquor from the fruit which in my opinion was way yummier. Although you could easily substitute it for appropriate flavoured schnapps if so desired. The mousse needs a while to set so either make it 3-4 hours beforehand or the day before. Chai is a spiced variety of black tea readily available from your local supermarket.