KosherEye.com
Pear-Chocolate and Candied Orange Cobbler
with Orange-Chocolate Almond Crumbs by guest food writer Lauren Stacy Berdy
This delicious Passover recipe comes together fast. What makes this cobbler so unique is the rich chocolate crumb topping. It will supply what we love about cobblers: a cooked fruit filling with a crumbly topping. Chocolate is here in spades. It’s in the crumbs and it’s laced among the fruit. I like the citrusy edge of orange with chocolate. I use candied orange in the filling and orange zest in the crumbs. No candied orange? Just double the zest. The pear filling is packed densely into the mold(s) and the crumbs are liberally distributed. A good cobbler will have juice bubbling over the sides. This one is no different. I serve individual cobblers- but don’t hesitate to make a family one. It tastes just as divine.
Ingredients
Fruit Filling
4 large (or 5 medium) Bosc pears, cored
½ cup chocolate chips
¼ cup candied orange peel, finely chopped or the zest of an orange
¼ cup sugar
1 tablespoon potato starch
olive oil for the mold
Chocolate Almond Crumbs
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup finely ground almonds or almond flour
¾ cup dark brown sugar
4 tablespoons unsweetened dark cocoa powder
1 navel orange, zested
Garnish
Unsweetened cocoa powder, sprinkled
Directions
Wash and core the pears. Assemble the mandoline, using the thinnest slicing blade, and place over a mixing bowl.
Proceed to slice the pears from the bottom up. Quit an inch before the stem. Repeat with the remaining pears.
Add in all the remaining ingredients. Mix with your hands. Set aside.
For the crumbs: pour the olive oil into a mixing bowl. With your fingers, rub the ground almonds (almond flour- it’s okay to have some almond pieces), dark brown sugar, dark cocoa powder and orange zest together to form coarse crumbs.
Preheat oven (convection if available) to 350 ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment or foil. Brush olive oil inside a baking dish or 1 cup mold(s)
Pack the mold(s) densely with the pear filling. Leave a ¼” head room. Spread the chocolate crumbs evenly over the surface of the pears.
Bake in the center of the oven. Set the mold(s) upon lined (foil or parchment) baking sheet.
The cobbler(s) will bubble over a little it's what you want. Bake the 1-cup molds about 30-35 minutes. Bake family-sized molds for about 1 hour.
Cool to warm.
Notes
The cobbler tastes best served warm.
Right before serving, sprinkle the crumbs with dark cocoa.
The cobbler(s) can be baked in the morning and reheated for dinner service. Reheat in a preheated warm 325 ºF oven for 20 minutes. Do not serve too hot.
6 servings (recipe easily doubles)
Lauren Stacy Berdy earned her professional diploma from Ecole de Cuisine La Varenne, Paris, France in 1978, then spent a few years working in Europe before bringing it home. She spent more than three decades as a private chef-caterer.
Lauren resides 130 paces from the beach with her husband in Hollywood, Florida, where she wrote Remaining Kosher Volume One: A Cookbook For All With A Hechsher In Their Heart. This iBook is available on iTunes. Volume Two is well on its way.