Benjamina Ebuehi's hot pear crumble recipe | The perfect place

There are few things more comforting than a bowl of hot crumble and custard. A classic apple crumble will always reign supreme, but I like to switch things up for the festivities. Boiling pears in wine and spices not only gives wonderful flavors, but also gives the fruit a nice shade of red. I like to do this step ahead of time, and let the pears sit in their poaching liquid for a few hours, to deepen the color, before adding the topping.

Warm Pear Crumble

For garnish500ml red wine75g caster sugar1 sliced ​​orange2 cinnamon sticks8 whole cloves¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg30g fresh ginger, peeled and minced850g pears

To make the crumble, combine the flour, rolled oats and sugar in a bowl. Add the butter and use your fingers to rub it into the flour until you have a coarse mixture. Add a tablespoon or two of water and use a knife to stir until some of the crumble starts to clump together. Chill in the refrigerator while you prepare the pears.

Place the wine, sugar, orange slices and spices in a saucepan, heat until sugar dissolves, then simmer for five minutes. Peel and core the pears, roughly chop the flesh into large chunks, add to the pan and cook gently over medium heat for about 10 minutes, until the fruit pieces are slightly softened but hold their shape. Remove from the heat and let the pears cool in the wine. You can now leave them for a few hours, or even overnight, so that they soak up their flavor and color deeply.

Pour in the cooled pears and half of their poaching liquid in a roughly 26 x 20 cm baking dish. Top with the crumble mix, then bake for 40-45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the juices begin to bubble.

Bring the remaining poaching liquid to a boil and cook until thickened. reduces to syrup. Serve the crumble with plenty of custard and a drizzle of hot syrup.