Pear and Marzipan Crumble

Winter is the time for fruit crumbles, they are comforting, simple and quick to prepare.

The bitter almond flavour in marzipan marries beautifully with pear. This is a no fuss crumble that doesn’t require the pears to be pre cooked, so you do need to slice them very thinly so they soften. The marzipan scorches slightly in the cooking process and develops a delicious, toasty flavour and a dense chewy texture.

I like to serve this with a dark chocolate sauce, but custard, cream or ice-cream is never a bad idea with crumble.

100g plain flour

100g butter

75g sugar

50g rolled oats

100g marzipan

1/3 cup slivered almonds

Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs.

Add the other ingredients and squeeze into clumps.

4-6 pears

1 lemon, juiced

1-2 tbs maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 160.

Peel, core and quarter the pears and slice as thinly as you can.

 When all the pears have been sliced toss them with the lemon juice and maple syrup in a baking dish.

Spoon the crumble over the top.

Bake for 40-45 minutes.

The marzipan will scorch but if you feel it is getting too burnt pop a foil tent over the top.

Serve with a dark chocolate sauce.