Pear Gingersnap Crumb Pie

Pairing ginger with pears is all about creating alluring contrasts – the subtle honeyed sweetness of the fruit and the zesty, tingly heat of the ginger creates sparks on the palate. In this lovely pie, you’ll find them perfectly mingled together, with an almond, oat and gingersnap topping giving way to a luscious lemon and vanilla-scented pear filling. The shape of the Heritage Square Baking Dish means there are lots of golden, crumbly edges, which is everyone’s favourite part.

Crust

2 ½ cups flour

½ teaspoons kosher salt

¼ cup cold unsalted butter, cubed

10-12 tablespoons ice water

Filling

½ cup sugar

⅓ cup flour

½ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

8 pears, room temperature

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping

15 gingersnap cookies, ground into coarse crumbs

½ cup flour

⅓ cup brown sugar

1/3 cup rolled oats

⅓ cup sliced almonds, toasted

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup very cold unsalted butter, cut in small cubes

Caramel sauce, store bought or homemade

For the crust:

In a large bowl, whisk together flour and salt. Use a pastry cutter to cut butter into flour mixture until butter pieces are a bit smaller than peas. Sprinkle with ice water and use a fork to incorporate. Dump the shaggy mixture onto a parchment-lined work surface. Gather into a ball, wrap tightly and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

For the filling:

In a small bowl, combine sugar, flour, ginger and salt. Set aside. Peel, core and chop pears into medium pieces and place in a large bowl. Sprinkle with lemon juice and vanilla extract and gently stir. Add sugar mixture to pears and stir gently until all pear pieces are well coated. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 190°C. Remove crust from refrigerator and place on a lightly floured work surface. Roll into a 40x40cm square and carefully transfer to a 20cm square baking dish. Carefully line the bottom and sides of the baking dish with crust, folding the top edge under. Crimp top edges of dough with fingers or a fork to create a decorative finish. Fill crust with pear filling and set aside.

For the topping:

Place gingersnap cookies, flour, brown sugar, oats, almonds and cinnamon in a medium mixing bowl. Stir to combine. Add cold butter cubes to the gingersnap mixture. Using a pastry cutter, cut mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Finish using hands to be sure all the dry mixture has been coated with butter. Sprinkle crumb topping over the top of the pears.

Place baking dish in preheated oven and bake until pears are tender about 60-70 minutes. Cover pie loosely with foil during the last 15 minutes, if necessary, to prevent over-browning. Cool pie on a wire rack for at least 1 hour before serving. Drizzle with caramel topping for serving.