Pears baked in cinnamon brushed pastry

Are baked pears an acceptable pudding? Or are they too healthy and hence not a treat? I rarely hanker after a nice slice of pear after supper. But wrap them in icing sugar and cinnamon brushed pastry and bake them until crisp and Christmas market smelling and we’re off.

One year ago: Death by chocolate cake and Lemon brioche

Two years ago: Macarons and Sausage and potato pie

Three years ago: Mince pies and Easy cheesy pasta

Pears baked in cinnamon brushed pastry

Ingredients:

Serves 2

• 2 ripe pears, peeled
• 200g plain flour, plus extra for rolling
• 100g cold butter
• A little cold water
• 3 tbsp milk
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp icing sugar

Place the flour into your stand mixer bowl or if doing by hand in a large bowl then add the butter and either use the flat beater at speed 1 to make breadcrumbs, or if making by hand rub the butter into the flour until you have a breadcrumb type consistency. Add cold water a dribble at a time and use a blunt knife to pull the pastry together. Once it forms a ball, wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Sieve a little flour over the work surface and roll the pastry out to the thickness of 3mm, rolling in one direction and moving the pastry 90 degrees after each roll. Brush the pastry with milk and then a fine dusting of icing sugar and cinnamon. Wrap each pear in pastry, leaving the stalk standing up and proud of the pastry, pressing the milk covered side of the pastry down over the dry side to secure it. You can paint the outside of the pastry covered pears in milk if you wish too. Bake on a baking sheet covered with greaseproof paper for 30 minutes until brown and piping hot.

Remember not to eat the stalk!

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