Cafe Juanitas Pear Crisp With Vanilla Brown Butter Food

RENEE'S PEAR CRISP

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
• Spread pears to cover bottom of the baking dish; drizzle with melted butter and maple syrup.
• Stir flour, brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla extract together in a bowl. Cut softened butter into flour mixture until mixture resembles coarse crumbs, adding more flour if necessary. Sprinkle topping over pears.
• Bake in preheated oven until pears are bubbling and topping is crisp, about 30 minutes.

PEAR CRISPS WITH VANILLA BROWN BUTTER

Steps:

• Make topping:
• Pulse together flour, almonds, brown sugar, and salt in a food processor until nuts are finely chopped. Add butter and pulse just until blended. Coarsely crumble in a shallow baking pan and chill at least 1 hour.
• Make filling and bake crisps:
• Preheat oven to 425°F with rack in middle.
• Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into a small heavy saucepan, then add pod and butter and cook over medium-low heat, swirling pan occasionally, until butter is browned and fragrant, about 4 minutes.
• While butter browns, stir together sugars, flour, and a pinch of salt in a large bowl. Add pears and brandy and toss to combine.
• Discard vanilla pod, then toss butter with pear mixture. Spoon filling into gratin dishes and sprinkle with topping, mounding it slightly in centers. Put in a shallow baking pan and bake 30 minutes, then rotate baking sheet and bake until topping is golden brown and filling is bubbling, 10 to 15 minutes more. Cool to warm or room temperature on a rack.

CAFE JUANITA’S PEAR CRISP WITH VANILLA BROWN BUTTER

Steps:

• Make topping: In a food processor or blender, pulse together flour, almonds, brown sugar, and salt until the nuts are finely chopped. Add the melted butter slowly and pulse mixture until blended. Place mixture in a shallow baking pan, and spread out evenly. Cool for at least 1 hour, or up to 2 days. Make filling and bake crisps: Preheat oven to 425 degrees and place a rack in the middle of the oven. Scrape seeds from the inside of the vanilla bean (with the back of your knife) into a small sauce pan. Add the pod, and butter and cook over medium-low heat, swirling the pan occasionally, until the butter is slightly browned and fragrant, about 5 minutes. While the butter is browning (make sure to keep checking on it), stir together the brown sugar, granulated sugar, flour and a pinch of kosher salt in a large bowl. Add in the pears and the pear brandy and toss to combine. From the brown butter, remove the vanilla pod carefully, and toss the butter with the pear mixture. Spoon the filling into the 6 ramekins, evenly. Spoon the cooled topping over the pear mixture, mounding slightly in the center. Place on a baking sheet and cook for 40-45 minutes, rotating the crisps once, until golden brown and bubbling. Let cool. Serve with vanilla ice cream, or just by itself! *You can assemble these one day in advance and refrigerate them. Bring them to room temperature before baking.