Tuesday 19 September 2017

Pears

"It is, in my view, the duty of an apple to be crisp and crunchable, but a pear should have such a texture as leads to silent consumption".

So said Edward Bunyard author of The Anatomy of Dessert, a book written in 1929  (which I haven't got! but read this quote in another cookery book. Bunyard was the son of a Kentish nurseryman who bred and sold fruit trees and bushes, amongst other stuff; there is still "Bunyard's Exhibition" broad bean.)

The pears on one of our small trees look awful, spotted with brown and black, but under the peel they are OK.

Sad Pears
We've been picking up windfall pears from this tree to eat  and some have been soft and juicy while others are hard and just a bit gritty proving another quote from the same book  " A pear is only truly delicious for 10 minutes!".
We know from the shape of them that the other pear tree is a Conference and none have fallen yet - so they will be ready later than this unknown variety.
According to my River Cottage Fruit book, you have to pick pears when they are hard and then ripen them in a cool, dark dry place until they are almost ready  and then bring them into the house a few days before you want to eat them. How you judge all this when they look so poor anyway is anybodies guess!

I used most of the above pears to make a caramelised pear upside-down sponge cake/dessert. The pears were peeled and cored and cut into small bits and cooked in a little butter and sugar until they were golden and sticky. Then I put them in a baking tin which I'd lined with parchment and made up a sponge mixture (eggs,butter,sugar and SR flour) to put on top. Cooked until the sponge was done and turned out onto a plate.
Should have used more pears but otherwise looks tasty. This will be Col's dessert through the week.
While the oven was on I also made a pepper, onion and cheese quiche for two days dinners and cooked some chicken thighs for the rest of the weeks lunch-time sandwiches.

Thanks for comments about the jumble sale finds
Back Tomorrow
Sue








19 comments:

  1. Sounds absolutely delicious...would Col mind sharing? x

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    1. He had to! because I decided to have a small slice...just to check it was OK of course

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  2. Any combination of fruit and sponge is welcome here. I haven't seen a jumble sale in several years and car boot sales are few and far between around here. I haven't got a pear tree in yet but a Damson is on it's way and some native crab apples for a windbreak.

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    1. Very pleased with the two trees here, they may be small but lots of fruit

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  3. Just catching up - the best jumble sales round here are the ones at Stowupland Village Hall on behalf of the URC in Stowupland, they do them twice a year, the next one will be November.
    I get the EADT on a Friday just to check for any jumble sales, I couldn't do Saturdays one as it was the SSS AGM.

    My plan of action at jumble sales is to check out the household items, then the books, then grab a coffee and biscuit, then head to the clothes once the main throng of people have gone - seems to work well and I always find clothes I need.

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  4. Ooooh that pear cake looks delicious. I bet Andy would like that.
    Hugs-x-

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  5. At one house where I lived the pears were plentiful, everyone around us had pear trees too, so I am ashamed to say this but I had a pear compost heap!! I always feel guilty when I buy them these days.

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    1. They do tend to be ready all at once and ordinary houses don't have the right facilities to keep them cool enough to store but this is the first house we've had plenty

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  6. Looks delicious. Amy's favourite pudding is apple upside down cake - she's been known to eat a full one to herself - over a couple of days of course. xx

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  7. Oh yum! That looks delicious. I love pears but they have to be just right. Too hard and they don't taste good.

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    1. I can't stand them dried - much too gritty but we are enjoying these and even OK hard - surprisingly.

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  8. hi Sue, I also have pears all over the place dropping onto the grass. Mine are small and they are gold/peach colour but they also have these marks on them. Do you know the name of this pear?

    Only just got the internet this PM will post a picture on my blog later

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    1. No idea what it's called except it's not a Conference

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  9. Thaat pear upside down cake looks yummy. At least you didn't waste the sad-looking pears. I have some apples a bit like that on one tree, but like your pears, they peel and cook OK. Col will make short work of that I think!

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  10. I'm totally in agreement regarding crispy apples and "silent" (soft) pears. Peaches too must be soft too but I prefer bananas slightly hard. Love the look of the pear cake.

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