Thursday, July 23, 2009

Winter Pear and Blueberry Crumble


Today is Barefoot Thursday and today's Barefoot Blogger challenge is a peach and blueberry crumble. Sorry to say, however, I did not use peaches. Crumbles are a real favourite with me. Any time of year and any flavour. I would have loved to be serving you up the Barefoot Challenge of a peach crumble today, but there are no peaches around here for at least another four or five months. And even if I could have found them, they probably would have travelled further than Captain Cook. So I am giving you an adapted winter crumble with pears subbing in for the peaches. Lucky for me, it worked beautifully. The sweet and juicy pears were balanced by the lemon zest and the sprinkling of tart blueberries, while the crunchy topping gave a great texture contrast to the melting fruit.

This was very delicious. So good in fact, that if I had had leftovers, I might have been tempted to put some on my muesli this morning. Good thing I got it outof the house pronto! I suggest you do the same, or you may wind up with crumble in your muesli too.

The Barefoot Bloggers are slowly working their way through the cookbooks of Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, who specialises in completely achievable AND completely delicious food. This recipe was picked by Aggie of Aggie's Kitchen. Thanks Aggie.


Pear and Blueberry Crumble
adapted from "The Barefoot Contessa at Home" by Ina Garten

For the fruit
1 kg ripe pears
2 tsp grated lemon zest
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup plain flour
1 cup fresh blueberries


For the Crumble
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
125g cold unsalted butter, diced

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Peel the pears, slice them into thick wedges, and place them in a large bowl. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, granulated sugar, and flour. Toss well. Gently mix in the blueberries. Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes. Spoon the mixture into ramekins or custard cups.

For the topping, combine the flour, sugar, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until the butter is the size of peas. Rub the mixture with your fingertips until it’s in big crumbles, then sprinkle evenly over the fruit. Place the ramekins on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and back for 40 to 45 minutes, until the tops are browned and crisp and the juices are bubbly. Serve warm or at room temperature. If you want to make these early, store the unbaked crumbles in the refrigerator and bake before dinner. Serves 5 to 6.

9 comments:

Aggie said...

Great substitution! I love pears! You should definitely try again during your summer with peaches... :)

Glad you enjoyed it!! It looks awesome!

Deb in Hawaii said...

Looks delicious! I had to sub for the peaches too. I am a big pear fan and love the combo with the blueberries.

April said...

YUM, the pears sound good. I think I may try this with apples and pears the next time I make it!

Foodiewife said...

Pears are perfect with this recipe. Sometimes I like pears and cranberries...so good! Nice to meet you, and thanks for visiting my blog.

Debby

Laura said...

My husband was just saying how he would love it if I would make this recipe with pear (he hates peaches...go figure!).

So glad to find a fellow foodie in your part of the world. Can't wait to visit your "little island" one day in the future!

spike. said...

sounds just as good as peaches to me!

BMK said...

I like your substitution. I bet it was fabulous and now you have an excuse to make it again when pears are in season!

Coco Bean said...

Glad to hear this works with substitutions. I completely forgot that Australia is in winter right now. I'll try pears when its winter here in Canada (the next ten months!!!)

Summer said...

Ooh, I bet the pears were fabulous in this!