pear pie

Happy Monday!!

I’m not ready to embrace the work week, but I’m trying to talk myself into it! Like if I repeat it over and over again it will be true. I gotta Bettlejuice it. “Happy Monday! Happy Monday! Happy Monday!!!” And magically it will be a Happy Monday!! HA!

We just had a great weekend so I don’t want to go back to the normal routine. Oh boo!

It was rainy on Saturday so I took Autumn to a local in-door trampoline park. Unless she is watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, she is on the go, preferably outside. And I couldn’t just park her in front of that all day, so we tried out Skyzone for her. Price and I had loved it when we had done it so I was hoping she would as well.

There was a small toddler area that was perfect and a handful of other kids there. She liked hoping around with the balls and noodles but most of all she liked the bigger kids jumping and making her bounce and fall and bounce and fall over again since she is so small. She was cracking up for that hour.

And then on Sunday we met up with a friend of mine, his wife, and baby. Chris and I worked together a few years ago on a project and have stayed in touch going out to dinners with another guy from the team, so it was great meeting his wife and daughter. I wanted to steal Cora. And I don’t think Autumn would have minded as she kept kissing her. We met at the aquarium, where we have a membership, and then we went out for brunch. Autumn was so worn out by all the running around and action. Perfect day!

 

Anyway, I haven’t made many pies this year and I wish I had. I missed it from my Year of Pies last year. I was missing it so I dove into the long list of pies that I wanted to make last year but hadn’t gotten around to it. Better late than never.

Pears are just a great fall and winter fruit when you are craving something other than an apple. I have my favorites like bartlett and anjou, but the top pear is the comise.

I gave Price the first slice and he quickly dug in. He explained that he liked the combination of sweetness from the pears and the bite from the ginger. He did suggest that some vanilla ice cream would be a nice compliment to the ginger. And so he bought ice cream the next day for his next visit with the pie!

I hope you welcome the transition of summer to fall with this pie. Enjoy!

Struesel Topped Ginger Pear Pie

Makes a 9″ pie

Ingredients

For the Crust

• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) very cold unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 6 to 8 tablespoons (about 1/2 cup) ice water

For the Filling

• 8 pears (I used comise pears)
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 1/4 Cup flour
• 1/4 Cup Cornstarch
• 1 ” fresh ginger, grated
• 1/2 teaspoon mace
• zest of 1 lemon

For the Struesel Topping

• 1 Cup Flour
• 1/4 Cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon mace
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 8 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small piece

1. To make your pie crust, cut the butter and shortening into small pieces. Return it to the refrigerator while you prepare the flour mixture.
2. Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a dough blade and pulse a few times to mix.
3. Add the butter and shortening. Pulse until the butter is the size of peas and the mixture is crumbly While the machine is running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse the machine until the dough begins to pull away from the sides. Dump out on a floured surface. Quickly kneed together, divide into equal sized balls. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
5. Peel and slice the pears into 1/4″ thick slices. Place the pears in a large mixing bowl.
6. Add the rest of the pie pilling ingredients. Gently mix to coat the pears.
7. Remove 1 pie crust disc from the refrigerator (you only need 1 disk so use the other for another pie!). On a floured surface, roll out into a large circle until it is large enough to fit a 9″ pie plate. Place the crust in the pie plate. Fold over then crimp the edges.
8. Pour the pear pie filling into the pie crust.
9. Make the topping by combing the flour, sugar, ginger, mace, and kosher salt in a medium bowl. Using a pastry blender or your fingers, work the butter into the flour mixture until fine crumbs form. Scatter the topping over the filling and gently pat down.
10. Bake the pie 20 minutes at 425 degrees, then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and bake until the topping is lightly browned and the filling is bubbling, about 40-45 more minutes (cover with foil if the topping is browning too quickly). Transfer to a rack and let cool completely.

Pie Crust from Ina Garten, Pie from I am a Honey Bee