Pear Crisp with Vanilla Sauce
This popular and seasonal family dessert is from the Great Life Cook Book so it is made for entertaining.
Filling
- 1 cup dried pears
- 2 cups pear juice
- 16 to 16 large pears (Bosc or Bartlett)
- 1 cup brown rice syrup
- Pinch of nutmeg
- Pinch of sea salt
- 3tbsp arrowroot dissolved in 1/2 cup of pear juice
Soak dried pears in 1 1/2 cups pear juice for 10 minutes. Remove the pears from the juice, setting the juice aside.
Chop dried pears into small 1/4 inch pieces.
Peel, core and slice fresh pears into long thin wedges.
In baking pan, mix sliced pears, juice saved from soaking pears, chopped pears, brown rice syrup, nutmeg and sea salt.
Bake 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from heat and fold in arrowroot mixture.
Topping
- 1 1/2 cups raw walnuts
- 5 cups gluten-free or regular rolled oats
- 2 cups brown rice flour
- 1 tsp sea salt
- Pinch of cloves
- 1/2 tsp dried ginger
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1 cup brown rice syrup
- 34 cup applesauce, unsweetened
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 tbsp vanilla
Toast walnuts in pan on stovetop or in oven until fragrant. Chop coarsely and set aside.
In a large bowl, mix together oats, rice flour, sea salt, walnuts, spices and maple sugar. Whisk rice syrup, applesauce, maple syrup and vanilla together.
Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix thoroughly.
Crumble oat topping mixture over baked pears.
Bake at 350 degrees, covered for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake 20 minutes more.
Vanilla Sauce
- 1 quart unsweetened vanilla soymilk
- 1 cup brown rice syrup
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 2 vanilla beans (or 2 tsp vanilla extract)
- pinch of sea salt
- 6 tbsp kuzu (or 4 tbsp arrowroot)
- 6 tbsp water
Slice vanilla beans in half and place in small pot with soymilk. Add all ingredients except kuzu and water.
Bring to slightly less than a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain out the vanilla pods.
Thoroughly dissolve kuzu in 6 tbsp of water and add to pot. Stir until the texture changes and the cloudiness clears. Turn off heat. Do not boil.
Drizzle sauce on pear crisp when serving.