Pear Blackberry Pie With Cardamom Food

PEAR & BERRY PIE

Steps:

• To make the poached pears, put the sugar in a big saucepan with the lemon peel, cardamom pods, nutmeg, cinnamon and 1 litre water. Bring to a gentle simmer. Lower the pear halves into the liquid and place a circle of baking parchment on top, so they cook through properly. Leave over a medium heat, so that a few bubbles break the surface every now and then, and cook for 15 mins. Allow to cool in the liquid. Can be chilled overnight if making ahead.
• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Dust the work surface with a little plain flour. Roll out the pastry so it's big enough to line a 20-23cm frying pan, pie dish or shallow baking tin. Grate a little nutmeg over the surface, then gently roll again to help it stick. Lift over your dish, press into the corners, then trim the edges. You can give it a pretty crimped edge, if you like, then wrap the off-cuts in cling film and keep in the fridge until needed. Scrunch up a sheet of baking parchment, unfold, and lay it over the pastry. Fill with baking beans and bake for 15 mins. Remove the beans and parchment, brush with some of the beaten egg and return to the oven for another 5 mins.
• Meanwhile, make the filling. Cook the remaining pears and sugar in a small pan until the pears are soft enough to squash with the back of a spoon. Drain off 3 tbsp of the poaching liquid and mix this with the cornflour, then pour back into the pears and continue cooking and squashing for another minute or so, until the filling has thickened.
• Sprinkle the ground almonds over the pastry case, then add the squashed pear mixture and scatter over the berries. Remove the poached pears from their liquid and blot them on some kitchen paper. Arrange them face-up among the pear mixture and berries. Using a mini pastry cutter, cut little shapes from the leftover pastry, then arrange them on top. Brush the pastry pieces with beaten egg and sprinkle with the demerara sugar. Bake for 45-50 mins until the pastry is golden and berry juice is bubbling. Cool for 10-15 mins before serving with custard, cream or ice cream, if you like.

PEAR-CARDAMOM PIE WITH ALMOND CRUST

Steps:

• Make crust:
• Blend flour, marzipan and salt in processor until marzipan is finely ground. Add butter and shortening and cut in using on/off turns until mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix 3 tablespoons pear nectar and almond extract and blend in using on/off turns. Gradually blend in enough pear nectar by tablespoonfuls to form moist clumps. Gather dough into ball. Divide dough into 2 pieces. Flatten each into disk. Wrap each disk in plastic and refrigerate 2 hours. (Dough can be prepared up to 3 days ahead. Keep refrigerated. Soften dough slightly at room temperature before rolling out.)
• Make filling:
• Grind brown sugar and vanilla bean in processor 1 minute. Add cornstarch and cardamom and process until vanilla bean is almost completely blended. Transfer to large bowl. Add pears and pear nectar; toss to coat.
• Position rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 400°F. Roll out 1 dough disk between sheets of floured parchment paper to 13-inch round. Peel off top sheet of parchment. Invert dough into 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Peel off top sheet of parchment. Trim overhang to 1/2 inch. Transfer filling to crust. Roll out second dough disk between sheets of floured parchment to 13-inch round. Drape dough over filling. Trim overhang to 1/2 inch. Press edges together to seal; fold under. Crimp edge decoratively.
• Gather scraps and reroll between sheets of floured parchment. Cut out leaf shapes using cookie cutter. Arrange atop pie. Brush top of crust (not edge) with glaze. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar. Cut several slits in top to allow steam to escape during baking. Bake pie 15 minutes. Cover crust edge with foil to prevent over-browning. Continue baking until crust browns and pears are almost tender when pierced with skewer, about 40 minutes. Cool pie on rack at least 1 1/2 hours. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

PEAR-BLACKBERRY PIE WITH CARDAMOM

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°.
• Core and slice the pears.
• In a large bowl, mix the pears and remaining filling ingredients together.
• Pour filling into prepared pie shell.
• Make the topping: add the sugar, flour, and cardamom to a food processor; pulse to combine.
• Add in the butter; mix until the topping comes together into crumbs.
• Add crumbs to the top of the pie, starting in the middle and spreading to 1 ½ inches from the edge.
• Bake 1 hour and 20 minutes (tent crust edges with foil if start to get too brown).
• Let the pie cool completely before serving.