With the recent arrival of the new-season Adelaide Hills pears and cooler weather on the horizon, this sweet crumble is the perfect dessert for an autumn evening.
The recipe is supplied by the Adelaide Central Market, and you’ll find more pear ideas from the market at the bottom.
Caramelised Pear and Ginger Crumble
Photo: Adelaide Central Market
Ingredients
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup dessert wine
1/4 cup verjuice
1 cinnamon stick
1 tbs chopped glace ginger
6 Beurre Bosc pears, peeled, cored & cut into chunks
Crumble
125g plain flour
125g unsalted butter
125g brown sugar
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1 tsp ground ginger
Method
Preheat oven to 180C (160C fan-forced).
In a medium saucepan, place sugar, dessert wine and verjuice together over a low heat, stirring until sugar dissolves.
Bring mixture to the boil, before adding cinnamon, ginger and pear. Simmer for 4 minutes, then remove from heat.
For the crumble, rub the flour, butter, sugar, oats, coconut and ginger together until mixture is well combined and looks like coarse breadcrumbs.
Pour the fruit mixture into a large ovenproof dish or six individual ones and sprinkle over the crumble.
Place baking dish on an oven tray and bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes.
Three ways with pears
1: The classic Italian salad of sliced pear, baby rocket leaves and shaved parmesan with a balsamic dressing is a perfect partner for steak.
2: Peel six firm pears and poach in a spiced red wine syrup using a bottle of red wine, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 star anise, 2 cinnamon sticks, 1 vanilla bean and a strip of orange peel.
3: For a delicious soup, roast 1kg peeled chopped pumpkin and 500g peeled chopped pears with 1/4 cup olive oil in a 180C oven for 1 hour. In a large saucepan, cook 1 chopped onion until soft, add 1 chopped clove garlic, cook for a further 2 minutes. Add roasted pumpkin and pear, 1 and 1/4 litres vegetable stock and simmer for 15 minutes. Puree until smooth and season to taste.
