What are your favorite side-hustle ideas?

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Maybe…baking? Or blogging? Or painting watercolors? Or singing?

Nah.

Nobody would pay me money for any of my hobbies, which is fine. I’m no longer an earner. I’ve accepted that. According to my last Social Security Statement, I had reportable income every year from 1980 to 2023. That’s 43 years of paid work. According to financial planners, my husband and I have saved and invested enough money to enjoy a comfortable retirement into our 90s, barring runaway inflation or a global financial meltdown—both of which seem highly likely in our current kakistocracy. I’m not really sure I believe the financial planners, but I’m going with it. However, we’re really trying to keep our spending down these days, which brings me back to baking at home.

We tried yet another recipe with our homegrown Bosc pears: America Test Kitchen’s Pear Crisp. I did that thing where I found the recipe on ATK but I didn’t want to pay for a subscription so I signed-up for a 7-day free trial, screenshotted the recipe, then cancelled the subscription before I got charged. Is that wrong?

AMERICA’S TEST KITCHEN PEAR CRISP

Ingredients

• ¾ cup coarsely chopped nuts (3 ounces/85 grams) I’m allergic to nuts so I substituted 3/4 cup of oatmeal (it was a genius substitution, if I do say so myself 😉)

• ½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour (2½ ounces/71 grams)

• ¼ cup packed light brown sugar (1¾ ounces/50 grams)

• 4 tablespoons granulated sugar

• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

• ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg

• Table salt

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

• 1 teaspoon cornstarch

• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice from 1 lemon

• 3 pounds (1361 grams) ripe but firm pears (6-7 medium)

Instructions

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Process nuts, flour, brown sugar, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in food processor until nuts are finely chopped, about nine 1-second pulses. Drizzle butter over flour mixture and pulse until mixture resembles crumbly wet sand, about five 1-second pulses, pausing halfway through to scrape down sides and bottom of workbowl. Set aside while preparing fruit.

2. Whisk remaining 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and pinch of salt together in large bowl. Peel pears, then halve and core. Cut each half into 4 wedges and then cut in half crosswise (pieces should be about 1 1/2 inches). Gently toss pears with sugar mixture and transfer to 8-inch-square baking dish.

3. Sprinkle topping evenly over fruit, breaking up any large chunks. Bake until fruit is bubbling around edges and topping is deep golden brown, 27 to 32 minutes. Cool on wire rack until warm, at least 15 minutes, and serve.

VERDICT: Good. 👍 The topping works well with the pears. I had it hot with ice cream for dessert (yum) and also cold for a snack that actually felt relatively “healthy” with all that fruit and oatmeal. It’s not as exciting as the Dutch Pear Pie or Pear Cobbler, but I would make it again.

Related posts:

A Baking Post (Dutch Pear Pie) featured on Freshly Pressed

Another Baking Post (Pear Cobbler)

Stress Baking (Puff Pastry Apple Strudel)

Fruit Trees

A Jackson (Apple Pie)

Deer me