Pear, Chocolate and Walnut Crumble

• Vegetarian

• Produce

  • 1 Lemon
  • 1 1/3 kg Pears

• Pasta & Grains

  • 7 tbsp Oats, whole

• Baking & Spices

  • 100 g Brown sugar
  • 100 g Caster sugar
  • 100 g Dark chocolate
  • 110 g Plain flour

• Nuts & Seeds

  • 80 g Walnuts

• Dairy

  • 160 g Butter
  • 1 tbsp Milk

Found on thebrickkitchen.com

Description

Ingredients

• 1.4 kg pears
• 1 lemon, halved
• 50g butter
• 100g caster sugar
• 110g butter
• 110g plain flour
• 100g brown sugar (or demerara sugar, if you have it)
• 7 tbsp whole oats
• 1 tbsp milk
• 80g walnuts, roughly chopped
• 100g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 180°. Peel and core the pears, cutting them into quarters or sixths if they are large. As you go, rub them with the lemon halves to prevent browning.
• Melt the butter in a large frypan over moderate to high heat. Add the caster sugar and stir for 1-2 minutes. Add the pears, coating them with the sugar and butter. Hopefully they all fit in one layer for you, otherwise turn them regularly. Let the pears cook and soften - as you do this, the sugar will start to caramelise.
• Once the pears are just tender (a good way to test this is when you can spear them through with the tines of a fork and meet only a little resistance) and the sugar is caramelised, normally around 10-15 minutes, tip the pears and the leftover juices into a baking dish (about 1.5-2L) (NOTE: I have found that cast iron pans or oven proof frypans are ideal for cooking this crumble in as the pears continue to caramelise more than in a ceramic baking dish, but if you don’t have that option then a ceramic baking dish will still produce a delicious crumble!)
• To make the crumble, rub the butter into the flour with your fingers or use a food processor, pulsing the mixture until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
• Stir in the brown sugar and oats. Add the tablespoon of milk and shake until it forms gravel size lumps (you may need 2 tablespoons, it really depends on the softness of your butter etc). Stir through the chocolate and walnuts.
• Tip the crumble mixture over the pears in a roughly even layer. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until lightly browned and crunchy on top. Baking times will vary slightly depending on what type of pan you use - a cast iron pan will cook much more quickly than a ceramic dish as it holds the heat better.
• Dust with icing sugar and serve hot with ice cream