Spiced pear crisp

Pears are plentiful here in France these days. And the pears I am finding are perfect for a baked dessert, ripe but firm. You can substitute honey or simply sugar for the Port if you don’t happen to have any around, but the Port is a wonderful bridge between the delicate sweetness of the pears and the spiciness of the cloves and cinnamon. It gives the dessert some nice color as well. I also used a raw cane sugar (turbinado) in the topping  instead of brown sugar, simply because brown sugar is hard to find here. But, to my delight, the raw sugar added wonderful flavor and crunch, so you might like to give it a shot.

Topping

• 1 1/3 C gluten-free oats
• 2/3 C sorghum flour
• 1 1/4 C brown sugar or turbinado sugar
• 1 C (2 sticks) of salted butter

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and work the butter in with your fingers or a fork until everything is incorporated (or pulse in a food processor).  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.

Filling

• 3 lbs pears, peeled, cored and sliced
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2 T Port
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 whole cloves

Toss the sliced pears with the lemon juice, port and cinnamon  in a large round cake pan or a 9 x 13 pan. Scatter the three cloves among the pears. Take the topping out of the refrigerator and crumble it over the pears. Bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until the topping is browned and the filling is bubbling at the sides of the pan. Serve warm.