Pear-fect!
One Thanksgiving when I was 7 or 8 years old we went to the Army Navy Country Club in Arlington, VA for our dinner. It’s the only time I can ever remember going out for the holiday, and the club was old world swanky – to an 8 year old anyway. On an impressive round table in the entry way was a enormous cornucopia spilling an abundance of fruit. We were told that we could take a piece on our way out, the thought of which lingered in the back of my mind throughout the meal. When the time finally came to decide on a piece of fruit I carefully chose a perfect pear. It seemed the most special, and did not disappoint. It was nothing like an apple. To this day pears always just seem special to me. Jump to recipe
I picked up a few at the farmer’s market last week. They were diminutive and perfectly ripe. Pears can occasionally snooker us and lead to disappointment, but these were all that I remember that Thanksgiving pear to be, sweet and luscious. I immediately ate one, but wanted to do something dazzling with the rest, so I put on my Pooh-Bear thinking cap: think, think, think.
Not that they are dazzling, but I didn’t do enough cobbler/crumble/Brown Betty-ing this summer, and got a notion to make a baked creation with pears and sweet potato (I’ll insert a “sweet potato pie” here in case you are having a mental hiccup). Hmm, I thought, some cranberries would really pop with the pale pear flesh and orange of the sweet potatoes. I spotted a good price, so I opted for frozen.
As I dropped the cranberries into the dish with the pears and sweet potatoes, I noticed that something was terribly wrong. Although the package clearly showed little red orbs that looked very much like cranberries, what fell into my creation were actually grapes, supposedly red grapes. Ah ha! This is why they were half off. Frozen grapes? I wouldn’t have minded too much except they weren’t really red. Luckily I had dried cranberries on hand, because once you settle on a thrilling color combination it’s unthinkable to abandon it.
All fruits now present and accounted for, I dolled them up with several grates of fresh nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger, and decided to put a decent amount of oatmeal in the crumb topping. Into the oven it went, and out came pear-fection!
The topping became a cousin to granola, something I always want to like, but don’t. Here though, it blended with the fruit and spices, and when I splashed on the (hemp) milk it was the very definition of comfort. It wasn’t dazzling in the obvious way, but in the way that makes you feel thankful from your head to your toes. Pear-fect!
This was simply amazing right out of the oven, and still deeply satisfying close to room temperature the next day…and the next day too. For entertaining, you can assemble the night before, then place in a cold oven in the morning to warm gently with the oven. It will double easily. Use your favorite butter substitute and “milk” to finish splash on top to serve.
Ingredients
- 1 sweet potato, cut into ½” pieces
- 2 ripe pears, cut into ½” pieces
- ½ cup fresh or frozen cranberries
- 1 Tbsp. tapioca, optional
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. ground ginger
- a few grates of nutmeg
- pinch salt
- ¾ cup brown sugar, divided
- ½ cup oatmeal
- ½ cup flour
- 4 Tbsp. cold butter
- milk of choice, as needed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° and “butter” a small baking dish.
- Toss the fruit and sweet potatoes with the spices, ½ cup of sugar, and the tapioca, then place in the prepared dish.
- Combine the oatmeal, remaining sugar, and flour, then cut the butter into the mixture. Strew over the top of the fruit and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until golden on top and just bubbly at the edges. Serve in bowls with a splash of milk.
Notes
This was simply amazing right out of the oven, and still deeply satisfying close to room temperature the next day…and the next day too. For entertaining, you can assemble the night before, then place it in the cold oven in the morning to warm gently with the oven. It will double easily. Use your favorite butter substitute and “milk” to finish splash on top to serve.
