November is a good month to put a crumble in the oven while you're still wearing your afternoon sweater. Give the apples some pear company, keep the topping craggy, and save a cold spoonful of yogurt for the bowl.
There's something especially inviting about a dessert you serve with a large spoon, straight from its baking dish. No tidy wedges to negotiate. For an evening at home, the pleasure is in the soft fruit under that buttery lid and the first crisp bit you steal from the edge.
The pear earns its place
Apple brings the familiar autumn flavor; pear gives the mixture a softer, more fragrant direction. If you're attached to an all-apple crumble, try the combination before reaching for another spice. Williams Sonoma's apple-pear crisp uses equal weights of the two fruits, with a little lemon juice. It's a lovely starting point for thinking beyond a bowl of cinnamon-sweet apples.
For a full apple-and-pear recipe, the Williams Sonoma version linked below gives you the quantities, oven temperature, and timing, with pine nuts in its topping. Follow those proportions for your first bake. Its fruit is peeled and cut into even cubes: a great big chunk hiding among smaller pieces is an unwelcome surprise when you're ready for dessert.
The fruit gets a rinse first
Before you settle in with the chopping board, wash your hands and rinse the whole apples and pears under running water. The FDA recommends washing produce even when you'll peel it, so surface dirt and bacteria aren't carried inside as you cut. Soap and produce wash can stay out of this part of the kitchen.
Cut away bruised or damaged areas and discard fruit that looks rotten, as the FDA advises. Then give yourself enough counter space for the bowl and baking dish. This is the kind of cooking that feels much nicer when you're free to scatter a few crumbs without balancing everything beside yesterday's coffee cup.
A rough top is the whole attraction
For the topping, oats bring the texture I'd choose for a chilly evening. King Arthur's classic apple crisp combines them with flour, brown sugar, and cold butter worked into uneven crumbs. Follow the linked recipe for its full measurements if you're making the all-apple version; the appeal here is that irregular surface, with little ridges to catch the heat.
Give the oven time to finish the fruit beneath it. King Arthur's cues are bubbling filling and a golden top, followed by at least 20 minutes of cooling. Set the baking dish on a lined sheet pan to catch drips. Waiting is easier once you've put the kettle on and found the bowls you actually like eating from.
Cold yogurt makes the spoonful
Plain yogurt is my pick alongside warm crumble because its tang tastes so good against sweet fruit and butter. Choose a thick one if you want it to hold its shape at the edge of the bowl. Spoon it beside the crumble just before eating, so you can decide how much goes into each bite.
You can absolutely bring out vanilla ice cream instead. Tonight, though, the yogurt has my vote: cool and sharp against the warm pear, with a generous piece of oat topping dragged through it. Serve the crumble in whatever bowls are clean, take it to the table, and leave the baking dish within reach.
