Coconut, Cinnamon and Pear Pie

Of course, you probably know me very well for invading Vocal with my film studies stuff and articles entitled ‘a filmmaker’s guide’. I have often explained that I love to bake as well. Since I was young, I have loved the idea, the creativity and the relaxation of baking different things. I love to make macarons, layer cakes and gingerbread in particular and the activity of it really gets me away from my laptop (where I’m sure you know that I spend most of my life). So, I hope you enjoy me talking about what I bake and why I bake it complete with pictures (if not very good) of me actually baking, my baked goods in the process of being created and when they’re finished. I’m really happy to share this with you. And if you like, you can show me your baking (yes, I spend a lot of time writing, but I also spend a lot of time reading other people’s articles!), I would love to see it. Since I was in school, I was always interested in creating things, whether that be pieces of writing, welding things to make small statues or baking foods and making sweets (candy, if you’re American). I hope you enjoy looking at some of the stuff that has honestly kept me sane, because I seem to be going slightly mad.

Coconut, Cinnamon and Pear Pie

I know it sounds a bit odd, but it tastes delicious. Here's the anecdote you've been probably skipping over:

My mother's friend has a pear tree and every now and again, she gives us a handful of pears. Normally, they get sautéed by me and served as a side sauce to some seasoned chicken or put into a roast chicken with an apple and half a lemon. But this time, I have decided to make a spiced pie out of them. I think that this is an excellent addition to the dessert recipes I'm doing and I think this is the first pie recipe I'm sharing with you (soon enough I will give you the secret recipe to my special Sweet Potato Pie, invented by me!) and I hope you like it.

For the pastry...

• 200g Chilled Butter
• 315g Plain Flour
• 2tsp Ginger
• 1tsp water

1. Combine the butter and flour adding the ginger little by little so that it combines well until it looks like breadcrumbs
2. Add the water gradually as you combine it with the mixture. Make a dough ball and leave aside for half an hour. Do not chill in fridge!
3. Roll out the pastry so that it fits in your chosen pastry dish at about 1/2 inch thick

For the filling (pt.1)

• 4x Conference Pears (diced)
• 2tsp Cinnamon (ground)
• 1tsp Ginger (ground)
• 20g Brown Sugar
• 500ml Water

1. Preheat the oven to 200C
2. Start the water boiling and then put in the pears
3. Once you see the pears are softening a little, add the spices and the sugar
4. Boil until the pears have completely softened and sieve the water out
5. Be careful not to mush up the pears and allow to cool a little for around five minutes
6. After this, add to the pastry crust and place in the oven for 35-40 minutes
7. You may, if you wish, add an optional egg-wash to the sides of the pastry, but this will make the pastry harder to cut through and not as sweet. It is your choice if you want to cut the sweetness slightly

After Cooling

• After your pastry has been allowed to cool for about ten minutes, grab some desiccated coconut and sprinkle it over your pie
• Allow it to melt slightly and after another ten minutes, sprinkle over some icing sugar to finish.

And....

Of course this works with other fruit combinations as well, I like to vary the pears with apples or even with lemon curd and with the apples, I like to add some lime, coconut, ginger, cinnamon or a little bit of dark chocolate shredded on top. With the lemon curd, sprinkled mint is the most delicious option I can think of.

When you're making the pastry, if you want to make it a little sweeter then adding some icing sugar to the pastry mix can make that happen. If you're a fan of natural ingredients then I would say after you've rolled it out, grab a tsp of honey and sprinkle or spread it atop the pastry around five minutes or so before you add the fruit. This will allow the honey to sink into the mixture.

The one thing I love about my recipes is that they are adaptable to suit your tastes. There aren't very difficult things to do and you don't need any specialist equipment. It's just good old-fashioned homemade baking with good old-fashioned home equipment.

I hope you enjoy your pie!