Pear Nutmeg & Almond Mini Crumble
Simple, cozy and a nutty crunch topping to add comfort to the end of a meal and evening. Adapted from Susan Herrmann Loomis' recipe in her cookbook Plat du Jour: French Dinners Made Easy.
Ingredients
Filling
- 2 pears Barlett or your preferred varietal peeled, cored and sliced thinly length-wise
Topping
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg freshly grated if possible
- 1/4 cup toasted almonds (unsalted) I used sliced almonds I use for my breakfast as they were already toasted (and unsalted)
- 1/2 tsp fleur du sel
- 4-5 Tbsp unsalted butter (high quality) from the refrigerator, so chilled
- 1/4 cup sugar add more sugar to preference
- 1 tsp vanilla (or a half of a vanilla bean's seeds) mix with the sugar to create your own vanilla sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit (220 celsius).
- Prepare the pears. Place in circular layers inside the French soup bowl. They will be compact and fill the entire bowl. Be generous.
- Make the crumble topping in a food processor. Combine the flour, nutmeg, vanilla sugar, salt, almonds and then the butter until a rough coarse topping is created. Don't feel the need to make the topping fine or consistent in sizes. Having some larger pieces of almond is a good idea for extra crunch. :)
- Place the crumble on top of the pears. Again, be generous. Pack it down on top of the pears and then add a soft sprinkle to the top (on top of the crumble that is already there).
- Place the soup bowl on a lined baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes. Check. You don't want the crumble to burn. My oven cooked it to a beautiful dark brown in 38 minutes, but I began checking at 30 minutes. Each oven will be unique, so check as necessary until you reach the brown-ness you want.
- Remove from the oven when done and prepare your hot cuppa. Let rest just for about 10 minutes, but not much longer as you want to enjoy it warm. Add a dollop of your favorite gelato or ice cream and enjoy!