Pear crumble with vanilla custard

I made mutton biryani for my husband's birthday since that is his absolute favourite. Since he is not very comfortable when I fuss about his big day, I decided to make a special dessert instead of cake... So finally, I came up with Pear Crumble..

I was actually searching for an apple crumble, but I had some great pears, so I just switched fruits..and there were so many variations of the recipe out there, that I just decided to go with a gut feel... It came out very well, but still, I think I have to tweak it a bit more, to make it even better...

So the recipe I am posting here is the revised version,

Pears - 3 large (peeled and cut into cubes)

Brown sugar - 2 tbsp

Water - 1 tsp

In a thick bottomed pan, add all the above ingredients and heat on a low fire till the water is gone and the sugar dissolves and coat the pears.

In a bowl put in

Oats - 1/2 cup

Flour - 1/2 cup (I used 3/4 of a cup, but have decided that is a bit too much)

Sugar - 2 tbsp

Baking powder - 1/4 tsp

Butter - 50 gms (cut into cubes - I used 100 gms of Amul butter, but it was a bit sticky instead of crumbly)

Rub all the ingredients together to make a crumbly mass. The crust was really thick, so in the revised version, I have reduced the amount of flour and butter.

Grease a baking dish, put the pears in and then the crumble should be layered on top and press it down. Sprinkle brown sugar on top. Preheat oven and bake at 180C for 25 to 30 minutes

Serve with.......

Chilled Vanilla Custard sauce

Egg yolk - 1

Cornflour - 1 tsp

Sugar - 2 tbsp

Beat well

Warm milk - 1 cup

Beat the mixture well again. Add 1/2 tsp of vanilla essence . Cook on a low fire, stir constantly until the mix is neither thin nor very thick. Refrigerate and serve with the pear crumble.

Everything tasted great, but the nicest thing was that as soon as my husband came home, our little one climbed up on his lap, rained him with kisses and informed him...'it is Acha's birdday '.... so we did underestimate her generosity after all...!!!!