You may recall I made this to take to an old BFF’s house a couple of weeks ago.  I am pretty sure it was a hit although it was a long overdue catchup and as always involved a few too many drinks so dessert was a bit of a blur!  I said to my Hubby this morning “I think I might put the pear pie recipe on the blog today…….was it any good?”  It was a positive response, so here it is!  It is inspired by a Donna Hay recipe, however I gave it a little kick up the behind with some chai style spices which of course took it to an emmalicious level!

Prep time:  1 hour              Cooking time:   40-50 minutes             $  Low Budget

Serves 6   (generous slices but could definitely stretch to 8)

For the Pastry:

12/3 cups of plain flour

1 tbs of castor sugar

1/4 tsp of baking powder

1/2 tsp of ground ginger

180gm of chilled butter, chopped (pop it in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to get it super cold)

1/3 cup of iced water

1 tsp of vanilla extract

For the Filling:

3 pears, peeled, halved and cored

2 tbs of water

1/2 cup of brown sugar

1/2 tsp of ground cloves

1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp of ground cardamom

1/2 cup of golden syrup

40gm of butter, melted

3 eggs

1/4 cup of pure cream

1 egg white, lightly beaten for brushing

To prepare the pastry place the flour, sugar, baking powder and ginger in a food processor and whizz to combine.  Add the chilled butter and process until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.  With the motor still running add the water and vanilla and continue to precess until the mixture comes together in a big dough ball.  Remove from the processor and wrap in cling wrap in a ball shape and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 160°C.   To prepare the filling, place the pears in a large frying pan with the water, cover and heat to a simmer for 6-8 minutes or until the pears are just tender.  Set aside to cool.

Place the sugar, golden syrup, butter, eggs, cream and spices in a bowl.  Whisk well to combine.

Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to approximately 3mm thick.  Lightly grease a 28cm shallow pie dish, roll the pastry onto your rolling pin and gently roll it out over your pie dish.  Make sure the pastry fits snuggly by pressing gently with your fingers or the back of a spoon and then roll the rolling pin over top to get rid of any excess.  it will give you a nice clean edge too.  Brush the pastry with the egg white and place on a baking tray.

Arrange the pear halves core side down in the pastry shell and pour over the caramel mixture.  Gently transfer to the preheated oven and bake for 45-50 minutes or until the caramel has just set in the centre and it is nice and golden on top.  Serve either warm or at room temperature with a nice wad of vanilla ice cream or a delicious dollop of double cream.