pear and chocolate crumble
rating:serves 8
2kg pears (Comice or Conference are good)
juice of 2 lemons
50g caster sugar
300g plain flour
200g unsalted Butter, cut into small cubes and chilled
150g brown sugar
100g rolled oats
50g dark chocolate
Place the flour, sugar and butter in a food processor. Pulse until it forms a fine powder. Add the oats and pulse to mix. Chill.
Peel and core the pears. Cut into small cubes about an inch in diameter. Put the pears in a saucepan with the lemon juice and the sugar. Bring to the boil and then simmer for a while until the pears begin to tenderise. This depends on how ripe your pears are. If they are like bullets then you may need to do this for 20 to 30 minutes. If they are juicy and ripe then just bring to the boil. Allow to cool.
Preheat oven to 200 deg C.
When the pears are cool, place them an oven proof dish. Add the chocolate and give it a mix. Do not be tempted to add more chocolate, it will over power the dish. Finally add the topping and sprinkle this with some more brown sugar.
Cook for 20-25 minutes or until piping hot. Serve with custard or vanilla ice cream.
LOL I think I see a pattern developing here! What did I say about anything chocolate? Like this recipe too - pears and chocolate, oh YUM. Can hardly think of anything more voluptuous than fat juicy pears paired with rich gooey chocolate. Think I might need a cold shower *grin*