Sweeten the pears, fluff up the mousse and garnish with a smattering of mint and rapspberries... and you're in heaven.
1. To make the mousse, split the vanilla pod and scrape out the seeds. Put the seeds, crème fraîche, sugar and lemon zest in a bowl and mix together. Warm the lemon juice in a saucepan and add the soaked gelatine. Stir over a gentle heat to dissolve. Leave to cool slightly and then stir into the crème fraîche custard. Whip the cream to soft peaks and fold into crème fraîche. Spoon the mixture into 6 lightly oiled dariole moulds or mini pudding moulds, cover with cling film and refrigerate overnight.
2. For the pears, put the sugar in a saucepan and heat gently until it melts. Do not stir. From time to time, brush the sides of the saucepan with cold water to prevent the pan from burning. When the sugar turns to a golden caramel colour, remove from the heat and quickly pour in the red wine. Take care as the wine will spit. Place over the heat, again taking care as it will spit and splutter, place in the vanilla seeds from the pod and stir until lumps have dissolved.
3. Peel the pears without losing their shape, and leave on the stalks. Using a melon baller, scoop out the seeds and pith from the bottom of the pears before placing them in the boiling syrup, stalks upwards. Cover with a circle of greaseproof paper, bring back to the boil and simmer for 10 mins.
4. Remove from the heat and cool the syrup. Do this the day before for the best results, ensuring the pears are covered by the syrup. The following day, lift out the pears and boil the syrup rapidly until it forms a thick sauce. Leave to cool.
5. To serve, dip the moulds very briefly into warm water and then invert onto chilled serving plates. Fan or serve whole a pear with each mousse, drizzled with a little of the reduced syrup. Decorate with a couple of raspberries and a little fresh mint.
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