Cooksister | Food, Travel, Photography

Food, photos & faraway places

  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • About me
    • Contact me
    • Work with me
    • Legal
      • Copyright notice & Disclaimer
      • Disclosure
      • Cookies and Privacy Policy
    • Press and media
    • Cooksister FAQs
  • RECIPES
    • Recipe Index – by course
    • Baking (savoury)
    • Braai/Barbecue
    • Breakfast & brunch
    • Christmas
    • Dessert
    • Drinks
    • Eggs
    • Fish
    • Gluten-free
    • Leftovers
    • Pasta & rice
    • Poultry
    • Pulses
    • Salads
    • Soup
    • South African
    • Starters & light meals
    • Vegan
    • Vegetables
    • Vegetarian
  • RESTAURANTS
    • British Isles restaurants
    • Dubai restaurants
    • France restaurants
    • London restaurants
    • Montenegro restaurants
    • New York restaurants
    • Pop-ups and supperclubs
    • Serbia restaurants
    • Singapore restaurants
    • South Africa restaurants
    • Sweden restaurants
    • Switzerland restaurants
    • USA restaurants
  • TRAVEL
    • All my travel posts
      • Austria
      • Belgium
      • Canada
      • Dubai
      • Cruise ships
      • France
      • Germany
      • Greece
      • Grenada
      • Hong Kong
      • Hotel reviews
      • Italy
      • Israel
      • Jersey
      • Mexico
      • Netherlands
      • Norway
      • Portugal
      • Singapore
      • Ski & snow
      • South Africa
      • Spain
      • Sweden
      • Switzerland
      • UK
      • USA
      • Wales
  • PORTFOLIO
    • Freelance writing portfolio
    • Speaking and teaching
    • Photography portfolio
    • Buy my photos
You are here: Home / Recipes / Dessert / Spiced pear, blackberry & pistachio crumble

Spiced pear, blackberry & pistachio crumble

by Jeanne Horak on November 13, 2009 14 Comments in Dessert, Vegetarian

BlackberryPistachioCrumble

 

Don’t you hate it when something looks beautiful on the outside but the inside does not live up to expectations?

That gorgeous boy you always adored from afar on the beach… who turned out to be as thick as two short planks with stinky feet and bad breath.

The cookbook with the glossy cover… filled with ill-conceived flavour combinations and impractical recipes.

The funkiest CD cover ever… filled with the most turgid music in the world

A beautiful bag of fruit… that ends up being flavourless and mely.

Just recently, we’ve had a couple of fruit-related incidents like this.  Things like melons are always difficult in this country.  They are underripe and chilled to within an inch of their lives, and so they smell of nothing when you buy them.  This makes every purchase of a melon in this country a pot luck.  But you’d think other fruit might be more reliable.  Hah.  Last week Nick bought two bags of Spanish clementines for the price of one and, like it said on the label, they were indeed super-sweet.  But within a week, three of them had also started to decompose messily in my fruitbowl!  Earlier in the summer, being unable to find my favourite William pears, we bought another rosier variety (they were most like comice pears), and very beautiful they were with their red blush. I cut one open for breakfast, expecting a sweet juicy reward… but instead I got a dry, mealy disaster of a pear.  Was the wholebag like this??  I wasn’t really interested in finding out and being disappointed over and over again – but at the same time, I wasn’t going to throw the whole lot out!

As regular readers may recall, I spent rather a lot of Fridays this summer picking blackberries near our house and at the same time as the pears were disgracing themselves in my fruit bowl, I also had a couple of cups of fresh blackberries loitering in the kitchen.  For our big summer braai/bbq, I needed a dessert that wasnt particularly time-critical and could be forgotten left in the oven a little longer than planned without major ill-effects.  What better than a fruit crumble?  I figured I’d take a chance and use the mealy pear’s friends (and almost all of them were similarly mealy…) together with the blackberries, but I also wanted to recreate something of the fantatic flavours of the pear and cardamom tarte tatin that I’d made previously.  And the idea of pistachios in the mix just would not go away…

This crumble (which is, strictly speaking, a crisp I suppose!) ticks all the abovementioned boxes, fed 8-10 people (with the addition of some vanilla custard) and was deeply, spicyly delicious.  and the best part was that nobody, but nobody would have guessed how unpromising the pears originally were 🙂

PearBlackberryCrumble2Web

SPICED PEAR, BLACKBERRY AND PISTACHIO CRUMBLE (serves 8-10)

Ingredients:
6 small pears, peeled, cored and sliced
1.5 cups cup fresh or frozen blackberries
250ml ml sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp cinnamon
seeds from 3 cardamom pods, crushed
1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
1/2 cup flour
2/3 cup cold butter, cut into chunks
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup pistachios, chopped
Butter (for greasing)

Method:

In a large bowl combine the pears, blackberries, sugar, cornstarch and spices  and toss to blend.

Pre-heat the oven to 180C.  Mix the oats, flour, butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt together in a large bowl. Work mixture together with fingers until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add pistachios and blend well.

Butter an 20x20cm baking dish. Pour the fruit filling into dish and mound the topping over filling, covering it completely. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until bubbly and golden.  Serve with lots of custard.

More deliciousness for you!

  • Cranberry, pistachio & choc chip cookiesCranberry, pistachio & choc chip cookies
  • South African melktert (milk tart) revisitedSouth African melktert (milk tart) revisited
  • Spiced pear, apple & pistachio crisp for a snowy daySpiced pear, apple & pistachio crisp for a snowy day
  • Spicy plum crumble in a flashSpicy plum crumble in a flash

Never miss a Cooksister post

If you enjoyed this post, enter your e-mail address here to receive a FREE e-mail update when a new post appears on Cooksister

I love comments almost as much as I love cheese - so if you can't leave me any cheese, please leave me a comment instead!

« Roasted butternut and sage risotto
Saturday snapshots #64 »

Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  1. Meeta says

    November 14, 2009 at 9:42 am

    spices pears and pistachios you got me hooked there but blackberries too? i am all yours baby!

    Reply
  2. Bellini Valli says

    November 14, 2009 at 11:49 am

    It just goes to show you to always expect the unexpected. What I wouldn’t do for those blackberries Jeanne.

    Reply
  3. nina says

    November 14, 2009 at 12:07 pm

    I think the lovely blackberries and the exotic crumble simply simply camouflaged those mealy pears……..and then just to make sure…the vanilla custard was the right choice!!!

    Reply
  4. Kevin says

    November 14, 2009 at 4:47 pm

    That is one nice looking crumble! It looks so good al covered in vanilla custard! I really like the pistachios in it.

    Reply
  5. courtney says

    November 14, 2009 at 11:22 pm

    Graet save! I try to uise up all I can , even when not the best. Crumbles are always so comforting and save the day.

    Reply
  6. courtney says

    November 14, 2009 at 11:24 pm

    By the way you labeled the recipe apple and blackberry crisp. Not pear.

    Reply
  7. Soma says

    November 15, 2009 at 1:03 am

    😉 I love the different kinda combination here of pears, berries and pistachios.. esp the pistachios. I would not have thought about it, would have used almond instead.

    Reply
  8. Johanna says

    November 16, 2009 at 1:17 am

    I love pears more as I grow older – they featured little in my childhood but strangely enough my baby already loves them – until she takes an irrational dislike – I love the sound of this crumble – must remember it for when pears disappoint me as they do occasionally

    Reply
  9. Paz says

    November 17, 2009 at 11:05 am

    I have my spoon ready to dig in. 😉
    Paz

    Reply
  10. elra says

    November 17, 2009 at 3:56 pm

    I love pear, I can just eat it everyday in season or not. But, of course it tastes the best when it is in season. Your crumble look simply delicious!

    Reply
  11. tasteofbeirut says

    November 18, 2009 at 3:51 am

    mouthwatering recipe and what a clever way to hide a not so perfect fruit!

    Reply
  12. arcadia says

    November 20, 2009 at 9:16 am

    rainy week here in pretoria; a crumble sounds like just the right thing.

    Reply
  13. barbara says

    November 24, 2009 at 9:48 am

    I feel the need for fruit crumble now. This looks lovely Jeanne. We had an enormous blackberry bush on our farm when I was a child. I loved blackberry pie.

    Reply
  14. Michelle @ Greedy Gourmet says

    January 6, 2010 at 4:28 pm

    My disappointment with sexy boys is when they get older. They get “thicker set”, i.e. fat, hairy and lots of them go on ego trips. What a waste.
    I’m also struggling here with proper exotic fruit imported into the UK. Last night I wrote a snotty letter to Waitrose expressing my disappointment at the junk known as Madagascan lychees. Grrrr.
    A crumble is always a winner. It’s something the Brits got right!

    Reply
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Never miss a Cooksister post!

Get my latest recipes delivered by e-mail!

Search over 500 recipes

Recently on Cooksister

  • Perfect broccoli and Stilton soup [keto, low carb, GF]
  • Masalchi by Atul Kochhar – Indian street food in Wembley
  • Barbecued salmon with blood oranges and capers
  • Roasted Brussels sprouts with feta, pomegranate and pine nuts [GF, V]
  • Love Yourself healthy meal delivery [Review]
  • Antillean
  • Festive roast lamb with pomegranate glaze
  • Rustic blood orange and pistachio galettes

Archives by month

Archives by category

Popular posts

Peppermint Crisp fridge tart - a South African treat
Oxtail and red wine potjie
Nigella's Bakewell slices & the Big Bakewell Taste-off
Gem squash 101: how to find them, how to grow them, how to eat them!
Roosterkoek - a South African braai essential
Char-grilled asparagus, courgette and haloumi salad - I'm in love!

Featured on

Also available on

This week I made a flying visit to the RHS Chelsea This week I made a flying visit to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in  London’s leafy Chelsea, courtesy of @babylonstoren and @thenewtinsomerset [INVITED] I was fortunate to have an early morning tour of the beautiful show gardens and by far the most inspiring was the Best in Show winner, Horatio’s Garden, designed by Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg. Horatio’s Garden is an initiative to provide spinal injury patients in NHS hospitals with an accessible garden and private respite rooms within the garden. There are 8 across the UK and the design we saw at the show will be rolled out in Sheffield once the remaining funds needed are raised. Have you visited the Chelsea Flower Show? Let me know in the comments 🌺🌷🪷🪻🌼🌸 #rhschelseaflowershow2023 #rhschelsea #horatiosgarden #horatiosgardenchelsea
Today is the official coronation of King Charles I Today is the official coronation of King Charles III and London is literally awash with red, white and blue flags, bunting and souvenirs. I don’t have bunting… but in celebration I can offer you this plate of red, white and blue deliciousness that is sticky toffee pudding with berries! I had this last weekend at the @bristolbarbrighton - the pudding alone makes the trip from London worthwhile 😍👑🇬🇧 Long live sticky toffee pudding!!
Happy Easter to everyone celebrating! My Easter ch Happy Easter to everyone celebrating! My Easter chocolates are from Ukrainian chocolate producer @roshen_ukraine - gorgeous hazelnut praline-filled dark chocolates, and how beautiful is the packaging? #easter2023 #easterchocolate #easterchocolates #roshen #ukrainiantraditions #roshenchocolate
Great exhibition on at the V&A Museum in London ri Great exhibition on at the V&A Museum in London right now for anybody interested in textiles, fashion or Africa. Such fascinating info about the cultural significance of various traditional African cloths (kente, kuba, bògòlanfini and many more) and a great display of modern African designers from around the continent. It’s on till 16 April so catch it if you can! #africafashion #thingstodoinlondon #londonexhibitions #londontourist #londonbylondoners #kentecloth #kubacloth #bogolanfini #chrisseydou #ladumangxokolo
The wonderful Museum of the Moon installation - a The wonderful Museum of the Moon installation - a 7 metre diameter scale model of the moon suspended in the Painted Hall at the  @oldroyalnavalcollege in Greenwich this week, by @lukejerramartist. A surreal and fabulous sight!
Do you enjoy free art installations? Then you need Do you enjoy free art installations? Then you need to get down to @canarywharflondon between now and Saturday 28 Jan to catch the free Winter Lights 2023 event, back for the seventh year.

My favourites include @lukejerramartist ‘s Floating Earth; Tom Lambert’s Out of the Dark; Fluorescent Firs; Toroid by This is Loop; and the surreal and mesmerising Anima by MEATS - a tunnel filled with hundreds of thin optical fibre lights that change colour and move in the breeze 😍 

Have you been to Winter Lights? What was your favourite?
“When we look down at the Earth from space, we s “When we look down at the Earth from space, we see this amazing, indescribably beautiful planet. It looks like a living, breathing organism. But it also, at the same time, looks extremely fragile.” - International Space Station astronaut Ron Garamond

To experience the “overview effect” (a phenomenon experienced by astronauts viewing the earth from space), head down to Canary Wharf in the London docklands this week where you can see @lukejerramartist ‘s beautiful Floating Earth installation as part of the Winter Lights event. 

This giant 10m diameter installation is created using high resolution NASA images to create a floating scale model of the Earth, lit from within so that it glows from its current home on the Middle Dock, surrounded by the headquarters of international banking and finance corporations.

The artist hopes that viewed in this context, the installation will make visitors and the bankers working in surrounding buildings question how their money in savings and pensions is invested, and whether investments can be greener.

Aside from being a thought provoking piece, it is also mesmerising and surreally beautiful, so make sure you visit the free Winter Lights event before ends on Saturday 28 Jan.
Happy lunar new year! [Invited] To celebrate the Happy lunar new year! 

[Invited] To celebrate the arrival of the Year of the Rabbit, why not head over to @mamachensdumplings currently doing a residence at the @thegantrylondon in #stratford where you can feast on prawn & chive dumplings; pork, Chinese cabbage and shiitake mushroom dumplings; pork & prawn wontons with Mama Chen’s chilli oil; vegetable dumplings; smacked cucumber salad; and spicy noodles coated in garlic and Szechuan pepper oil.

And afterwards, make sure you head up to the @unionsocialoc bar for a cocktail - I loved the Moreish Fashion with bourbon, PX sherry, chestnuts and mandarin orange bitters!
Got leftover Stilton (or any blue cheese) from Chr Got leftover Stilton (or any blue cheese) from Christmas? Turn it into this super simple and super indulgent broccoli and Stilton soup! So easy to make and soooo delicious to eat - and it is low carb and GF. What more could you want?! Click the link in my bio for the full recipe. What’s your favourite soup?
Load More... Follow me on Instagram

Follow Jeanne Horak-Druiff's board Recipes by Cooksister on Pinterest.

Cooksister

The South African Food and Wine Blog Directory

The South African Food and Wine Blog Directory

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Jeanne Horak is a freelance food and travel writer; recipe developer and photographer. South African by birth and Londoner by choice, Jeanne has been writing about food and travel on Cooksister since 2004. She is a popular speaker on food photography and writing has also contributed articles, recipes and photos to a number of online and print publications. Jeanne has also worked with a number of destination marketers to promote their city or region. Please get in touch to work with her Read More…

Latest Recipes

Bowls of broccoli and Stilton soup
Salmon with blood oranges dill and capers
Brussels sprouts with feta and pomegranate
Roast lamb with pomegranate glaze
Blood orange & pistachio galettes
Cauliflower topped steak with melted cheese
Plate of potted smoked salmon with slaw and a glass of champagne
bowls of pistachio pomegranate bircher muesli

SITEMAP

Home

Contact

About me

Recipe Index

Restaurant Index

Copyright & Disclaimer

Cookies & privacy policy




blog counter

© 2004 - 2023 · Jeanne Horak unless otherwise stated - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. You may not reproduce any text, excerpts or images without my prior permission. Site by RTW Labs

Copyright © 2023 · Cooksister on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Cooksister cookie consent
We use cookies to ensure you receive the best experience on our site. If you continue to use this site, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions. Accept
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT