I’m not indulging in many desserts these days, but this one isn’t all that sugar-heavy, clocking in at 1 cup of sugar for the entire recipe. That’s 2 tablespoons of sugar per serving if you cut the pie into 8 slices, or 24 grams total. The goal is to keep daily added sugar consumption below 25 grams, or 100 calories. So you could have a regular-size slice and not go over your allowance for the day, as long as that’s all the added sugar you eat! Ice cream or sweetened whipped cream would be out as toppings, but unsweetened cream, whipped or unwhipped, would be fine.
Pear Crumb Pie
The pear crumb pie is a family favorite and comes in very handy when you give in to temptation and buy the box of pears at Costco. Total added sugar for a 1/8 of a pie slice is only 24 grams, just about the added-sugar allowance for the day.
Ingredients
- 1 9- inch or 10- unbaked pie shell with high fluted edge chilled
Filling:
- 2 1/2 pounds ripe pears 4-5 large ones
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2/3 cup sugar
- tsp a few gratings of fresh nutmeg or other spice of your choice cookbook calls for 1 . cinnamon and 1/4 tsp. mace
- 1-2 tablespoons flour depending on juiciness of pears
- Topping:
- 1 cup flour
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup butter cool room temperature
- pinch of salt
Instructions
-
Peel (if desired--depending on toughness of the skins), core and slice pears, sprinkle with lemon juice. Combine the rest of the filling ingredients and toss with the pears. Spoon filling into pie shell. Combine topping ingredients (fingers work best, I thinand sprinkle evenly over top of pears. Bake at 375 for 40-45 minutes, until pears are tender and top is browned. I find it works best to put the pie plate on a baking sheet, which concentrates the heat better on the bottom and to use an aluminum pie shield for pretty much the whole baking time. I find trying to use those little strips of aluminum foil as a shield for the crust edges to be too fussy for me to tolerate.
Recipe Notes
Nice served warm, with heavy cream, whipped or unwhipped.
Total added sugar per slice if you cut the pie into eight slices: 30 grams. Not a terribly high-sugar dessert, but still over the recommended limit of 25 grams. You could ask for a slightly smaller piece or just be sure you stay well below the limit for the next few days. Ice cream or sweetened whipped cream would seriously raise the sugar level, so don't use those.
--adapted with some very minor changes from A Taste of the Country, published by Reiman Associates, Inc., 1988.
