Pear & Fresh Ginger Crisp

Pears are a fruit that I don’t cook with often enough.  Honestly, neither Dan nor I gravitate towards them so they rarely find their way into our shopping carts.  Every now and then I get on a kick of thinking that I will eat them more and buy a few, which inevitable end up sit there sadly and giving me guilt for being wasteful. 

I was determined to use up the remaining overly-ripe pears that were left over after the scones.  With too few for the pear tart that they were originally destined for and too ripe for a few other ideas, I landed on a Pear Ginger Crisp.  And what a find it was!

There were only enough pears for a half batch (which is what I am posting for the recipe) but when there are only two of you that can be a good thing for waistlines.    And my love affair with using ramekins for individual ramekins has found its way to crisps.   A set of individual sized oval baking dishes would be absolutely perfect for serving this dish for a dinner party with a small scoop of honey or vanilla bean ice cream to finish it off.

Pear & Fresh Ginger Crisp

Slightly adapted from The Craft of Baking

Serves 3

3 ripe Bartlett or Anjou Pears peeled, cored, and diced
1/8 cup sugar
1 Tbsp finely grated fresh ginger

3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
heaping 1/8 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup coarsly chopped almonds
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

In a bowl mix the pear, ginger, and sugar.  Let the mixture stand at room temperature so the juices being draw out from the fruit.

For the streusel topping, mix just until combined the flour, sugar, brown sugar, almonds, cinnamon, and salt.  Add the melted butter and stir just until it the streusel comes together.  Spread onto a baking sheet and chill in the refridgerator until firm, about 15 minutes.  The streusal can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.

Pour the fruit and juice into a small 3-cup baking dish or into individual ramekins.  Top with the streusal.  Place the baking dish (or ramekins) on the foil lined baking sheet and bake, rotating the sheet half-way through, until the fruit is tender, the juices are bubbling and thickened and the topping browned, about 40 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving it warm or at room temperature.

Enjoy!

~ Tara

Comments

[lo]

It's funny. I have the same problem with pears. I really like them, but I don't tend to gravitate towards them. I think that's a mistake... and desserts like this are probably proof! Ginger, almonds, cinnamon... sounds amazing to me!