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Make Pear and Blackberry Crumble Bars

 

Ingredients: makes 12

For the filling:

  • 1 large ripe pear, peeled, cored and roughly chopped into 1cm chunks
  • 175g fresh blackberries
  • 1 tbsp runny honey
  • ½ lemon, zested, plus
  • 1 tbsp juice
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the base:

  • 100g unsalted butter, chilled and cubed, plus extra for greasing
  • 100g plain flour
  • 50g soft light brown sugar
  • 30g ground almonds
  • ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp ground ginger
  • For the crumble:
  • 50g unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
  • 40g plain flour
  • 30g soft light brown sugar
  • 60g walnuts, roughly chopped
  • 20g oats
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp ground ginger

Method

1 Grease and line a 20 cm square cake tin.

2 Add the pear, blackberries, honey, lemon juice, zest, vanilla extract, and 30ml of water to a medium pan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 10-12 minutes, mashing with a fork every so often, until the pears are soft but still have some shape and most of the liquid has evaporated. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

3 For the base, add the butter, flour, sugar, almonds, and spices to a large bowl. Using your fingers, rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture starts to crumble and then comes together. Press the mixture into the base of the tin in an even layer. Prick all over with a fork then transfer to the fridge to chill for 15 minutes.

4 Make the crumble by adding the butter and flour to another large bowl and rubbing them together with your fingertips until you have a mixture resembling rough breadcrumbs. Add the remaining crumble ingredients and stir until everything is combined but still lumpy – you want there to be some bigger chunks. Chill until needed.

5 Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas mark 4. Once the base is chilled, bake for 20 minutes then leave to cool for five minutes. Spoon the filling over the base, using the back of a spoon to carefully spread it around.

6 Scatter the crumble mix over the top and return to the oven and bake for a further 30 minutes until cooked through. Leave to cool completely in the tin until firm, then cut into 12 pear and blackberry crumble bars and serve.