GINGER PEAR & BLUEBERRY CRUMBLES, lower sugar & fat, opt for no common wheat

Sophisticated fruit crumbles with a twist...

Individual Pear, Blueberry & Ginger Crumbles (with one-dish option)

Candied ginger should be used sparingly in baking but a judicious hand turns an everyday treat into something spectacular.

So it is with this gorgeous juicy crunchy healthier crumble of pear, blueberries and ginger.  Luscious autumn pears tinged with bright purple streaks pop with bits of candied ginger - the whole delicately flavoured with ginger syrup. 

The great thing about making your own fruit crumble is that you get to control the amount of sugar and some of the fat that goes into the topping.  67 adds wholemeal flour for fibre; reduces sugar to take account of the natural sweetness of fruit and cuts fat just enough to maintain optimum levels of crunchiness and flavour.

1-dish Plum & Blueberry Crumble 

67 made two versions of this: four individual crumbles and a single dish. (See Tips) The individual crumbles won the 'Wow' test by a whisker but were a bit more of a faff to prepare.  

Both were cooked in an air-fryer - the 67 oven was not available -  but timings are given in the post for a conventional oven.

The recipe was made for a small household but multiples easily.

Cost: £2'ish
Makes: 4 small or one large enough for 2-3 people 

Ingredients:

     110gm/3.8oz plain flour
     35gm/1.2oz wholemeal flour
     min 2 - max 4 tbsp brown sugar

     50-60gm/1.7-2.1ox cold unsalted butter, in small cubes 

    generous handful blueberries, picked over to remove squashy ones
    1 globe ginger from syrup, drained & finely diced

    2 good-sized green pears - the long-neck ones  - as ripe as possible

    bowl of cold water with the juice of a quarter lemon added

    1-2 tbsp ginger syrup

flaked almonds

Method:

1. Make crumble: mix flours and sugars; rub in 2/3 of the butter until the size of peas; add the rest of the butter, rub in but leave some cubes larger than the others -- this makes for lovely clumpy topping; set aside
2. Generously butter 4 tart tins or one 6in/15cm dish
3. Layer the blueberries on the bottom; scatter over diced ginger
4. Peel pears; quarter; remove cores; cut into generous bite-size chunks; drop into lemon water and immediately drain
5. Cover blueberries & ginger evenly with pears; pour over ginger syrup; toss lightly
6. Sprinkle over crumble mix, then flaked almonds
7. Bake until beautifully brown: (i) air fryer - at 155c/310f 20 mins; then at 180/350 10 mins  OR (ii) conventional oven - 35-45 mins
8. Serve warm as is or with custard, cream or ice cream

Comments: 
'They were really really lovely!' Handyman
'Really, really delicious.  Pear Crumble is a no-brainer; adding blueberries and candied ginger takes it up several levels.' Journalist


Tips:

• If serving wheat-phobes, bake and serve the fruit & topping separately; the topping is spread out on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper and baked 15-20 mins; watch carefully or it could burn 
• Sugar-phobes can replace the globe ginger and syrup with fresh finely grated peeled ginger; taste after 1/2 tsp - too much won't be a good thing!
• Replace pear with apple, ginger syrup with orange juice & zest and candied ginger with cinnamon

More fruity desserts on NavBar: Recipes 1

Please leave a comment in the box below

This recipe has  been developed by B M Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises.  It may not be reproduced without the author's written permission.