A swoon worthy humble fall dessert
I am not sure what year it was, but Ragan was a baby and I lived in Lethbridge at the time. It was pear season, and I got a case or two of everything in those days for canning. We lived in a low rental complex. I washed and waxed my floors every week. There wasn’t a corner of that dilapidated townhouse that wasn’t immaculate. I can still feel the crisp fall air as it moved in and settled upon that small city at the time: brisk, cool, invigorating. Ah! Apple Crisp season, yet I had a kitchen full of pears. Why not?
Baby sleeping, I washed, cored, sliced and whipped up the crisp in no time flat, as the pears didn’t need peeling. They were succulent, sweet, juicy and filled with the perfume of the late summer orchard. While it baked, I made supper and watched the toddlers outside my kitchen window riding their tricycles, moms sitting on porch stoops chatting as all waited for daddies to come home. I don’t recall what I made for supper, but I have never forgotten my first pear crisp.
Why is the Apple Crisp the iconic Canadian prairie dish that signaled fall was in the air? The pear crisp was the best thing I had ever eaten and is still the very best dessert ever at this time of each year. Oh, My. Goodness. The warm steamy intoxicating juices from the pear coupled with the buttery crisp topping bits swimming in thick cold cream from the melted scoop of vanilla ice cream. Heavenly day. I was a genius. I had just created the most simple dessert from a classic recipe that was going to rock the planet. At least my corner of it. And to this day, each year, this dish still rocks my little corner of the world.
Lots of pears.
If they are ripe, they are sweet, so don’t overdue the sugar or the cinnamon – but add both.
Pears are juicier than apples, so a little more flour than you would add to an apple crisp.
Mix it all in and do dot the butter on top. Butter, flour, sugar and pears….. mmmmmm……. thick luscious perfumed sauce to-die-for. Seriously.
Work the four simple topping ingredients together with your fingers until there is a crumble in the bowl.
Cover the fruit. Do not push the topping into the fruit or pat it down…. just cover the fruit generously and completely with these crumbs that will become crispy buttery golden nuggets of flavour.
I didn’t actually use the entire topping recipe. There was about 1/4 of it labelled and frozen in a zip lock bag for another day.
How can such humble ingredients create such a dynamic impact? Well, that is often how it is, when I think about it. Humble is home.
If you make it, please share your experience with us here. If you have made pear crisp before, I want to hear all about it. You can see, I clearly feel like the inventor of this entire recipe, idea and even movement. That’s what it really is. The Pear Crisp Movement, no? Are you in?
Bartlett Pear Crisp
This crisp must be made at the height of pear season and is a swoon worthy humble fall dessert; if you have only tried the apple crisp, now is the time to make this Bartlett Pear Crisp Recipe, It is phenomenal! You will have a new family favourite, guaranteed!
Ingredients
Ingredients for the Filling:
- 15-16 medium to large Bartlett pears , washed, cored, and sliced (no need to peel)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 9 teaspoons butter
Ingredients for the Topping:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1/2 cup unsalted room temperature butter
Instructions
Instructions for the Filling:
- Combine all ingredients, except the butter, and place into a well buttered casserole dish
- Dot teaspoons of butter on top
Instructions for the Topping
- Preheat oven to 350ºF, lining oven with foil, or place a cookie sheet with parchment under the wrack to catch any boiled over bits if your dish isn't deep enough
- Combine flour, sugar, rolled oats and butter. Mix well with fork or fingers and sprinkle over pear slices, leaving cracks for steam to escape (do not press crumbs into slices)
- Bake at 350ºF until golden brown, about 45 - 55 minutes
- Serve warm with vanilla bean ice cream and a sprig of fresh mint from your garden (extra delish with the mint!
You just took me back to my Moscow Idaho days! The campus had apple and pear trees everywhere and they were free for the picking. Being the poor students that we were back then we would gather up boxes of pears and apples and spent hours canning and preparing for the winter and YES pear crumble appeared on our table too! Thank you for the reminder and although I have apple trees in my backyard now I haven’t seen anyone in the neighborhood with pears so it’s off to the grocery store to get a few and time to recreate those humble home moments. Thanks
My dearest gal Pal, Sweetie Petie!!!
How I miss you and think of you often – was about to pick up the phone earlier when I saw this message, but it rang – and the day rambled on at full throttle and here we are again… so close and so far. Love you lots.
XOXOOX
V
That sounds really yummy Valerie. I have made many crisps but never tried one with pears so this is going on my to make right away list. I like to poach pear halves in juice then serve them on a scoop of homemade custard with a ginger brown sugar drizzle or upside down pear gingerbread with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Brendi
Here is the recipe for anyone that wants it.
Upside Down Pear Gingerbread
Generously butter an 8x8x3 pan and arrange pear slices, then cover with a mixture of 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1 tablespoon flour. The flour keeps the juice from the pears from being too juicy.
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1/2 cup light molasses
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup boiling water
Cream butter and sugar, add the egg and beat well, add the molasses and beat well. Mix the dry ingredients and add to the butter mixture, alternating with the water. Gently pour over the pears and bake at 350F for 35 to 40 minutes.
This is my favourite gingerbread recipe, from my 1965 Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, which was my first cookbook and the one I still use more than any other. I use it for lots of adaptations when I want a really good gingerbread. Brendi
Your pear crisp looks drool worthy! It’s the perfect comfort dessert for fall. I will definitely make it once we harvest our pears this year. Thanks for sharing such a great recipe.
Liliana
Cannot wait to hear how it turns out!
🙂
V
Made this for dessert tonight after a roast pork (with crackling…and roast potatoes..mmm..) dinner. Superior to apple, by a long shot. Thank you!
Hey Julia!
Wonderful! Thank you for chiming in. Readers and I appreciate the stamp of approval for this recipe. Making it for the third time this season, today, actually!
Hugs,
Valerie
Hi Valerie,
I am making this recipe and I must assume that the instructions for the topping in step 2 should read mix the flour, brown sugar, rolled oats and butter. That is what I will do at any rate.
Yup! Good catch, Gail, and thank you for that! Correcting it now! Let me know how it turns out! We love it.
Sincerely,
Valerie
Do you have a sense of the weight of the pears in this recipe, or of the volume of slices? I used 6 pears which turned out to be 900 g and it seemed like a huge amount given that I was halving the recipe. I would appreciate your guidance. .
Hi Christine,
I don’t weight the fruit for these kinds of recipes but the next time I make one, I will make note of it. I think a kilo would be Ok for the recipe. Didn’t it taste delicious with your 900 grams? Was there not enough topping? The only issue for me when using a number of fruit instead of a weight that could interfere with the success of the recipe, really, is the “juiciness” of the fruit. First, a medium-sized pear or apple is usually understood by most. Then, each of us peels them differently. Some take off a lot of fruit, some are more careful. That will affect the outcome, too. So, if the fruit is extra juicy, I add more flour. Otherwise, the topping is usually good for the number of medium apples or pears in this recipe. Just think about it. Did you like it? What would you do differently, then let me know… as I am always interested. Everyone’s palate is a bit different, but traditionally, there is a fair amount of crunchy topping to the fruit, as in the image. Thanks so much for your comment. I look forward to heading about your eating experience.
Warmly,
Valerie