Pears are one of the great English fruits. They have such a fantastic full and rounded flavour that can work with, hold and withstand big, contrasting tastes. Mixing the soft, fruity pear flesh with the lovely crunch from the peanut brittle is a perfect culinary contrast -and a real treat.
Serves 4
4 pears
100g butter, softened
75g caster sugar
½ teaspoon ground allspice
1 lemon
Toffee Sauce (see here), to serve
crème fraîche, whipped, to serve
1 tablespoon lemon thyme leaves, to decorate
For the peanut brittle
300g caster sugar
150g toasted peanuts
For the crunchy coating
180g cornflakes
140g butter, melted
50g demerara sugar
50g milk powder
pinch of salt
To make the peanut brittle, line a baking tray with parchment paper and leave to one side. Put caster sugar in a saucepan over a high heat to make a dry caramel. By this I mean do not add any water, just melt the sugar in the pan. Once it boils, don’t stir. When it is a nice dark colour, stir in the peanuts and immediately pour the mix on to the baking tray. Leave to cool and become crisp.
To make the crunchy coating, preheat the oven to 140°C/Gas Mark 1 and line another baking tray with baking parchment. Mix the cornflakes, melted butter, demerara sugar, milk powder and salt together in a bowl, then spread the mix out on the baking tray. Place the tray in the oven and bake the crunchy mix for 20–25 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes so it colours evenly, until crunchy and toasted. Set to one side and leave to cool.
Turn the oven up to 190°C/Gas Mark 5. Peel the pears and rub them down with a green scouring pad to make them very smooth and remove any peeler marks. Place the pears upright in an ovenproof dish. Mix the butter, caster sugar and ground allspice together and spread evenly over the pears. Place the dish in the oven and bake the pears for 10–15 minutes until they are just tender. Take the dish out of the oven and immediately grate the lemon zest over the pears to release the citrus oils, then squeeze the juice over them.
Meanwhile, crush equal parts of the peanut brittle and the crunchy coating together to make a ‘crumble’ and set aside until needed.
Brush the hot pears with toffee sauce and then roll them in the ‘crumble’. Serve them warm with extra toffee sauce, the crème fraîche and with the lemon thyme leaves sprinkled over.