Pear-cranberry crumble

Actually I believe it's a crisp, though who really knows what the true distinction is here. According to some sources of information, a crisp can include oats in the topping, but a crumble is more British, less sweet, and is a "streusel" of butter, flour, and sugar. I have seen a fair share of crumble recipes that include oats too though. I guess it is more appropriate to say I made a crumble (drum roll for the pun) as my hopes crumbled after I tasted this dish...

I had beautiful red organic pears from the farmers market, fresh cranberries and ginger - autumn colors, spice, delectable brown sugar oat topping - but something went awry. I blame the vanilla and the overly sweet combo of crisp topping and the filling ... Needless to say, I fed it to others who loved it regardless, thanks to those who so willingly eat what I make.

Yesterday, I tackled the recipe again, determined to correct for my earlier recipe foibles. I adapted the filling to lessen the sugar, completely remove the vanilla and add ginger/black pepper for spice. I also made up the crisp topping - which isn't quite 100% where I want it - if you have a crisp topping you love, feel free to substitute, but make sure to include some cinnamon and ginger in it!

Pear-Cranberry Crumble
Filling:

• 2 lbs (a bit less is fine too) of pears (before cutting), cored, sliced thinly
• 1 3/4 c. fresh cranberries
• 2 tsp minced ginger, fresh
• 1 Tbs lemon juice
• 1/2 - 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
• 1/4 c. granulated sugar
• 1 Tbs cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Crisp topping:

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup quick oats
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Dash of salt
• 1/3 - 1/2 cup chilled butter, cut into small pieces 
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• optional 1/4 c. chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Stir the sugar and cornstarch together until well mixed. Stir together with the rest of the filling ingredients. If you want to save a dish, you can do this directly in the casserole dish to be used for baking.  Set aside.
3. In another bowl, Stir together all the crisp ingredients except for the butter (and the nuts if using). Then cut in the butter until crumbly. I find hands can work better for this than a pastry cutter with the oats. Stir in nuts.
4. Evenly distribute the topping over the filling in a casserole dish (oval 2.5 qt) and bake for 40-50 minutes.