Maple Pear Ginger Pie

The pears from the farmer's market weren't quite ripe when I brought them home. But, rather than stick them in a brown paper sack and let them ripen for 5 days (did you know that technique really works?!), I decided to take advantage of letting the oven do the ripening for me... with a few added flavors, of course.

This recipe was slightly adapted from this recipe over at Simply Recipes. The grocery store did not have candied ginger, and though Simply Recipes recommended substituting ground ginger, I thought that fresh ginger would give the pie a little bit of spice, and bring out the ginger flavor more so than ground ginger that has been sitting in my pantry for 2 years...

This pie was a hit! It definitely helps that the pears were grown a mere 30 miles from Houston, and thus could be picked ripe from the tree :) The crisp pears, the tangy lemon, the spicy ginger, and sweet maple syrup created a flavorful pie without the sticky, gooey, gloppy innards that pies can be accused of containing.

What you need:

Filling

1 pie crust (I use my grandmother's recipe, but use your favorite crust!)

6 cups of roughly chopped pears

1 1/2 tablespoons of cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/4 cup of packed brown sugar

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1 tablespoon of lemon juice

1 teaspoon of lemon zest

1 teaspoon fresh minced ginger

Crumb topping

2/3 cup of flour

1/2 cup of old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup of packed brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1/3 cup of cold unsalted butter, cubed

What to do:

1. Roll out pie crust and place into 9" pie dish

2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the chopped pears in a large bowl and mix with the cornstarch, ginger, brown sugar, maple syrup, lemon juice, lemon zest, and salt

3. Place the pear mixture into the pie crust and smooth over the top

4. Place pie on the center rack of the oven and bake for 45 minutes (after 30 min, cover the outside rim of the crust with foil to prevent burning)

5. While the pie is baking, combine the crumb topping ingredients in a bowl and mix with your fingers until crumbly and refrigerate until use

6. After the 45 min, decrease oven temperature to 375 degrees, sprinkle the crumb topping over the pear mixture and place back in the oven for 15 min

7. Take out and let cool for at least an hour

8. Serve with ice cream and EAT UP!

Sugar on my lips,

HK