CRANBERRY PEAR PIE/CRUMBLE

 A  few years after we moved to Kansas City, we planted a pear tree in our back yard. My husband wanted a pear tree because he loves pears and, I think, because that was one of the fruit trees that we did not have in our yard in Ventura. I wanted anything but ... like a peach tree, or apple tree, or plum tree, anything but a pear. 

When I was growing up my Aunt Corine had a pear tree in her yard and Mother and my grandma made the best pear preserves, but that was it. I don't have a lot of recipe that use pears so it was not on my list of fruit trees I wanted in my yard. But we planted a pear tree.

I tired one year to make pear preserves like my mother did but they didn't look at all as pretty as hers. It was probably because they were different pears, but as far as I was concerned, the tree was even more my husband's tree than mine. 

He has made some pear preserves himself that he eats and I pretty much turned the tree and its fruit over to him. Now he picks them all and peels them all. We do give some to friends which helps because the tree of course produces a lots of pears.

Last year I gave some to our neighbors Sara and Syl and she made a delicious pie. She shared the recipe with me not the pie. 😊

This year I found a recipe that sounded really good and had him peel some pairs for me to use in the recipe. I made it for the canasta group. It had a really delicious taste, but it fell apart when I tried to dish it out of the pie plate. (see picture below) Well, since I don't really like to share recipes with you that have problems, I didn't share the recipe at that time. I told them I was going to make it again but in a deep dish and serve it out with a big spoon like you would a cobbler or crisp.

Well, it has taken me a few weeks to get around to doing that, but the tree had so many pears, he still hasn't gotten all of them off the tree. In fact he has spent a lot of time the last few days peeling and cutting them up into slices, quick freezing them, and then storing them in a gallon freezer bag to eat later fresh or in a recipe I might find. (Actually I can see me making this recipe again. We really like it.)

The pears are a little crunchy even after baking for 50 minutes but I like that and the tartness of the fresh (frozen) cranberries makes a total delight.

PRINT RECIPE.

CRANBERRY PEAR PIE/CRUMBLE

5     cups cored, thinly sliced pears

1     cup fresh cranberries (I use fresh cranberries that I have frozen)

1/2  cup maple syrup

2     tablespoons flour

2     tablespoons melted butter

1     pie crust

Crumble Topping

1/2   cup flour

1/4   cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1      teaspoon cinnamon

1/3   cup cold butter or margarine, cut into thin slices

1/2   cup chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cut a piece of the pie crust to fit in the bottom of a deep baking dish. (I used a 2 L size casserole dish that is about 8 inches square.)

 

Place in the bottom of the dish. If you are making a pie, use a 9 - inch pie plate.  Set aside.

Combine the pear, cranberries, and syrup in a large bowl.

Add the melted butter and

stir.

Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the flour over the top of the fruit and toss to coat. Then add the other tablespoon to top the fruit again and toss to coat. 

Transfer the mixture to the baking dish with a big spoon making sure the cranberries are spread around in the dish. (see the picture a few pictures down)

Make the crumb topping by first mixing the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon.

Thinly slice the butter and break into smaller pieces and add to the dry ingredients a little at a time.

Cut in with your fingers or a pastry cutter.

Add the chopped walnuts.

Sprinkle/crumble the crumb topping over the fruit.

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees without removing the dish and bake 35 minutes longer, until golden brown.

Let cool at least 1 hour before serving.

Hint...Since 5 cups of pear slices is a lot of slices, use a large bowl with cold water and lemon juice added...maybe a fourth of a cup, and the pear slices to it and leave until ready to mix them with the cranberries. This will keep them from turning brown. This works also with other fruit that will turn brown if left out like apples, peaches, bananas, etc.

Here what my pie looked like...