Nigel Slater’s midweek treat: pear and chocolate crumble

Photograph Jonathan Lovekin

Serves 4. Ready in 1 hour.

Soft, buttery pears and dark chocolate under a thick rubble of crumble. It is best made with dark chocolate, at least 70% cocoa solids. Milk chocolate is too sweet and creamy and won’t really cut it in this recipe.

Bring 200ml of water to the boil in a shallow pan, then add 40g of caster sugar.

Peel 4 ripe – but not soft – pears, rubbing each one with the cut side of a lemon as you go, to prevent them from browning. Cut each pear in half, remove the core, then cut the flesh of each half into 4 or 5 pieces and drop into the syrup. Let them cook for about 15 minutes until tender and almost translucent.

Turn the heat up and let the liquid bubble and thicken. Transfer the pears and their syrup to a 1.5-litre baking dish.

Make a crumble by rubbing together 120g of butter and 150g of plain flour with your fingertips. When you have the texture of soft fresh breadcrumbs, stir in 60g of soft brown sugar and 40g of jumbo oats. Pinch the mixture together with your fingers to give crumbs of different sizes.

Break 70g of dark chocolate into small pieces and tuck them the pieces among the pears.

Scatter the mixture over the top and bake for 45 minutes until the crumble is golden brown.

• Apples are good here, too, if you prefer them. You don’t need to cook them first, but it will give the filling a delicious silky quality.

• Flaked almonds lend a delightful crunch to the topping.