"You can always count on d'Anjou pears in season to give you the perfect dose of bubbly goodness, baked under a crunchy muesli mixture studded with pecans," says Curtis Stone. "And here's a hot tip: leave small pockets uncovered so the juices can bubble over. A delicious dessert but, much like the breakfast cake, it could also be served as a morning treat."
Curtis Stone's maple pear and muesli crumble
Leave small pockets of the crunchy museli and pecan crumble so the maple pear sauce can trickle over.
- 15 mins preparation
- 1 hr cooking (plus cooling)
- Serves 6
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Ingredients
- 125 ml maple syrup (½ cup)
- Juice and finely grated rind of 5 mandarins (½ cup of juice)
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1.2 kg ripe firm pears (preferably d'Anjou), peeled, cored, cut into 3cm wedges
- 100 gm fresh dates, pitted, coarsely chopped
- 50 gm brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 420 gm thick plain yoghurt (1½ cups)
Pecan crumble
- 80 gm plain flour
- 60 gm rolled oats (2/3 cup)
- 80 gm caster sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 100 gm unsalted butter, coarsely grated, frozen
- 60 gm pecans, coarsely chopped (1/2 cup)
Method
Main
- 1For pecan crumble, place flour, oats, caster sugar, cinnamon and a pinch of salt in a bowl and mix to combine, then rub in butter with your fingertips until clumps form. Mix in pecans, spread on a tray lined with baking paper and freeze until firm (10-15 minutes).
- 2Preheat oven to 160C and line a baking tray with foil. Whisk maple syrup, mandarin juice and lemon juice in a bowl. Combine pears, dates, brown sugar, cinnamon, 1 tsp mandarin rind and a pinch of salt in a separate bowl, and toss to coat, then transfer to a 25cm-diameter cast-iron frying pan or baking dish, or three 16cm-diameter cast-iron frying pans. Pour maple syrup mixture over pears, sprinkle with crumble, place on prepared baking tray and bake until crumble is golden and filling is bubbling (45-50 minutes for small crumbles, 1-1¼ hours for larger crumble). Stand to cool briefly (10 minutes).
- 3Meanwhile, whisk remaining rind in a bowl with yoghurt and serve with warm crumble.