Irish Custard with An Orchard Pear Crumble

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5 from 1 vote

Irish Custard with An Orchard Pear Crumble

Pears are typically regarded as an autumn fruit until paired with this wholesome Irish custard for a Spring Saint Patrick's Day dessert.

Prep Time30

Cook Time1 5

Total Time1 35

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Irish

Servings: servings

Author: Jenny DeRemer

Cost: $3.02 per serving

Equipment

nonstick saucepan
9 x 13-inch baking dish

Ingredients

for the orchard pear crumble

1 ¼ cups almond flour if you have almonds but not almond flour, add the almonds to a food processor and pulse until very fine equaling 1 1/4 cups
1 ¼ cups oatmeal quick cooking
1 cup light brown sugar
1 ¾ cups + 1 tablespoon unsalted butter divided; 1 3/4 cups cubed and very cold, 1 tablespoon softened to room temperature
4 ½ cups pears cut into 1/2-inch or slightly larger pieces; Bosc, D’Anjou, Bartlett, Forelle, or Concorde
4 tablespoons Irish whiskey
3 tablespoons honey
juice from half a lemon
1 teaspoon apple pie spice
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
seeds from 1 vanilla bean

for the Irish custard

2 cups whole milk
2 ounces heavy cream
1 vanilla bean split down the middle with a pairing knife to expose seeds
4 egg yolks
¼ cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch

Instructions

make the orchard pear crumble

Preheat oven to 400°F. Use 1 tablespoon of the butter to grease the bottom and sides of a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Set aside.
In a large bowl, toss the chopped pears with the Irish whiskey. Let the pears macerate for 30 minutes tossing a few times during that time.
To a separate bowl, add the oatmeal, almond flour, brown sugar, and cold cubed butter. Use your fingers to rub the mixture together until the grain resembles peas. Alternatively, you may add all to the barrel of a food processor and pulse until you reach the same consistency.
After the pears have macerated, drain about half of the liquid but not all. Add the honey, lemon juice, apple pie spice, cardamom, cinnamon, and vanilla bean seeds to the pears and toss well.
Turn the pear mixture out into the prepared baking dish evenly. Top evenly with the oatmeal and almond topping.
Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until the top is sufficiently browned, you can smell the bake, and the fruit is bubbling up from beneath the crumble topping.
Pull from the oven and allow to sit on the counter until ready to serve. The crumble may be eaten warm or cool.

make the Irish custard

Bring the milk, cream and vanilla bean to simmering point slowly over a low heat. Remove from heat and let cool slightly and remove the vanilla bean.
Whisk the yolks, granulated sugar, and cornstarch together in a bowl until well blended. Using a ladle, spoon a little of the hot milk into the yolks to temper them, whisking constantly so the yolks do not cook. Repeat once more before adding the yolk mixture to the milk mixture entirely and whisking vigorously.
Return to the saucepan and over a low heat gently stir with a rubber spatula until thickened, about 12 to 15 minutes. The custard may become lumpy as it thickens, and this is okay.
Pour the custard into a pitcher once thickened and serve immediately over the orchard pear crumble.

Notes

Substitutions: the pears may be substituted with Granny Smith or Bramley apples in equal measure. The vanilla beans may be substituted with 1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste (first choice) or 1 full teaspoon vanilla extract.

Omissions: the Irish whiskey may be omitted altogether if your preference is to use no alcohol.

Make Ahead: the pear crumble may be made ahead up to 6 hours and allowed to rest at room temperature until ready to serve. The Irish custard may be made ahead by 2 hours. If not serving right away, use plastic film to cover the actual surface of the custard preventing a skin from forming. Custard may be kept warm by placing the pitcher of custard in a medium saucepan filled halfway up the sides with water. Heat the saucepan over medium heat until the water is just steamy. Maintain the simmer. Keep the plastic film in place and serve within 2 hours.

Uses For Those Vanilla Bean Pods After This Recipe: once you've removed the vanilla bean from the milk mixture, run it under cool tap water and dry it using a paper towel. DRY IT WELL. Together with the scraped vanilla pod, put to use immediately in one of the following ideas:

Create a vanilla infused sugar. Rub the vanilla seeds into white sugar. Rubbing the vanilla into the sugar will release the aroma of the vanilla and infuse the sugar with a natural vanilla taste. The sugar can then be used when sugar is required in a recipe.

Make your own vanilla extract for baking. Place two or more split vanilla pods lengthwise in a clean, dry glass container. Add a pint of high-quality vodka, rum, or bourbon to the container and seal the container. Place in a cool, dark place such as a closet or pantry for one month if you are using rum and three to four months if you are using vodka. Swish the jar periodically. The richness of the extract will depend on how long you allow the pods soak in the alcohol.

Put dried vanilla in your coffee beans. Infuse your coffee with a natural vanilla flavor by placing dried vanilla in your bag or can of coffee beans. Place in the coffee for several weeks. Over time, the coffee beans will become infused with the vanilla.

Nutrition