Caramel Pear Crisp

By Samantha Seneviratne

Updated January 8, 2023

  • David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
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Total Time
1 hour 10 minutes
Rating
4(442)
Comments
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The caramel in this comforting seasonal dessert is made with butter and sugar and is a bit easier to make than a water and sugar caramel. That said, it is important to use ripe fruit that will let off juice so that the caramel isn’t too stiff. The cream cheese adds body and tang, and highlights the delicate flavor of the pears, but in a pinch, you could swap the cream cheese for ¼ cup of heavy cream. Either way, a drizzle of cold heavy cream for serving would offset the sweetness nicely.  

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Ingredients

Yield:8 servings

FOR THE CARAMEL

  • 4 tablespoons/58 grams unsalted butter

  • ¾ cups/175 grams granulated sugar

  • 4 ounces cream cheese, cut into pieces 

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)

FOR THE FRUIT

  • 2 ½  to 2 ¾ pounds ripe pears (such as Bartlett or D’Anjou), each cored and cut into eighths  

  • 2 tablespoons chopped crystallized ginger (1 ounce), optional

  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice

  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch

  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)

FOR THE TOPPING

  • 1 ¼ cups/100 grams old-fashioned rolled oats

  • 1 cup/136 grams all-purpose flour

  • 1 cup/95 grams sliced almonds

  • ¾ cup/165 grams packed dark brown sugar

  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)

  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

94 grams carbs; 60 milligrams cholesterol; 645 calories; 10 grams monosaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 14 grams saturated fat; 29 grams fat; 8 grams fiber; 412 milligrams sodium; 8 grams protein; 61 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

  2. Step 2

    Prepare the caramel: Add 2 tablespoons water and the butter to a 12-inch oven-safe skillet with high sides. Sprinkle the sugar in an even layer over the bottom of the pan (try to avoid getting any sugar on the sides of the pan). Heat the skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the sugar without stirring until bubbles start to appear. At this point you can swirl the pan carefully to help the sugar brown evenly. Once the caramel is deep amber, 6 to 8 minutes, remove the skillet from the heat.

  3. Step 3

    Let the mixture cool for 1 minute and then stir in the cream cheese until fully combined (the mixture will bubble rapidly). Stir in the vanilla and the salt.

  4. Step 4

    Prepare the fruit: In a large bowl, toss together the pears, ginger, lemon juice, cornstarch, cinnamon and salt.

  5. Step 5

    Make the topping: In a medium bowl, combine the oats, flour, almonds, brown sugar and salt. Add the butter and toss together until all the dry ingredients are evenly moistened.

  6. Step 6

    Add the pears to the caramel in the skillet and toss to combine. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the top.

  7. Step 7

    Bake until the caramel is bubbling in the center, the fruit is tender and the topping is browned, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
442 user ratings
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Comments

Su

This isn't true. Steel-cut oats are cut into nubbins that absolutely must be soaked in water to become edible, whereas rolled oats are steamed (pre-softened) and pressed flat, so that they're tasty when they're just toasted as they are here. A topping made with steel-cut oats will be too hard to eat. Please don't sub one for the other here!

Jenny

This was delicious! I did not have candied ginger so I used some micro-planed frozen raw ginger in the pear mixture. I also had less pears than it required—I will make again with the right amount. Delicious! Also, the caramel was intimidating but turned out to be quite easy to make. I will save this recipe for the caramel alone!

Ro

This was easier than anticipated but absolutely scrumptious! A tad sweet, so might cut back on dark brown sugar in the topping. It would be lovely served warm with cream or yogurt on top.

Mike B.

Just eyeballing the amount of pears made me concerned about the balance of this dish. The topping, which is excellent, yields much more than enough - even for dedicated crumble fans. The same applies to the caramel. That said, I used 40 oz of nicely ripe Anjou (4 good-sized) and everything worked out well. There is evident pear flavor against the sweetness. When I make this again I’ll use 5 pears. As others have commented, my personal preference was to peel the pears, which becomes a bit trickier when they are ripe.

Eleanor

Perhaps I overcooked the caramel, but the pears were lost in this.

Ev

Delicious but far too sweet. Used crème fraiche instead of cream cheese and worked very well. Would reduce sugar ratio in caramel by a quarter and sugar in crumble by at least half.

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