feral pear crisp with mugolio drizzle
My generous friend Rita dropped off a bag of pears because she’s leaving town and who wants all those lovely pears to go to waste? Do I know what kind of pears they are? Nope. But I know they’re tasty, and that’s what counts. And if you happen to have some mugolio on hand (an Italian syrup made from immature pine cones), well that really takes this wild pear crisp over the top.
This recipe is made with Clear Jel, because I wanted to can a few jars of the filling to pull out when someone’s coming for supper and I need an impressive dessert. If you’re not a canner, feel free to substitute flour or corn starch, but you’ll need to determine your own quantities for that. This recipe is scalable. As is, it makes three pints of pear filling
what you’ll need to make wild pear crisp
for the filling
- 5 cups pears, peeled and sliced
- 1 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup Clear Jel
- 3/4 cup water*
- 1 cup pear or apple juice*
- 3 Tbs. lemon juice
- 3/4 tsp. ground wild ginger stolons
- 1 tsp. ground, dried spicebush berries
* I use pear juice in place of both the water and apple juice, but I realize most people don’t have that on hand, so apple juice and water are good substitutes.
for the topping
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup flour
- butter
what you’ll do to make wild pear crisp
Preheat your oven to 350F. Peel your pears and cut them into slices approximately 1/2 inch wide. (You know, pie-sized slices.) Despite what you may read, there is no need to keep the slices in acidulated water to prevent browning. The spices will make the fruit filling brown so that would just be a waste of your precious time.
Combine the sugar, Clear Jel, ginger, spicebush, and juice (or juice + water) in a pot and bring it to a boil over medium heat. You’ll need to stir regularly, and you’ll notice the mixture begins to thicken, then bubble around the edges. When this happens, add the lemon juice and let it boil for one minute, stirring constantly.
Add the pears, stir well, and remove from the heat. If you plan to can your filling, now’s the time to transfer it to canning jars and process in a boiling water bath. Pints should be processed for 25 minutes at sea level, and be sure to make adjustments if you live at altitude, like I do.
I don’t know about you, but I like a lot of crisp in my crisp; I want each bite to have both fruit and topping. A 9 x 9 square brownie pan holds two pints of filling and gives me a fruit layer just over an inch deep. But feel free to tinker if you prefer a different fruit to topping ratio.
Spread the filling evenly in the pan, then, in a fresh bowl, combine the dry ingredients for the topping and sprinkle it evenly over the fruit. Cut slivers of butter and distribute them over the topping every few inches.
Bake the crisp for 20-25 minutes, until the filling bubbles around the edges. If you’re someone who prefers a deeper crisp, you may need a longer cooking time. If you’re making small, individual crisps, you may only need 15 minutes.
I planned to serve this with vanilla ice cream, but before I did, inspiration hit! A drizzle of mugolio would be the perfect finishing touch. If you don’t have mugolio, don’t worry, the dessert is still excellent. But with mugolio…how do you say ooo-lah-lah in Italian?
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