Fighting to show pear as a key ingredient resulted in sweetening the fruit. This recipe caramelizes the pears, which can be used as a topping for ice cream, crumble, or pie filling. I took the traditional Finnish karelian pies and replaced the rice pudding with a reduced sugar tapioca pudding.
Take-Home Tips: Use any combo of the three ingredients (pear, rhubarb, tapioca) to make the pies your own. Apple would be a great substitute when rhubarb is not in season. The Bosc pears will be more tender and can be cut thicker. The Anjou pears will be firmer and can be cut thinner.
Scoring: 8of 10. They were sweeter than I expected (yeah, I know I used caramelized pears and sugary rhubarb). Even my husband who confesses to disliking rhubarb thought they were pretty good. The rye and tapioca really balance the strong flavors of the fruit but a rice pudding would be an alright substitute. The pear and rhubarb complement each other well and I will definitely combine for future recipes. Definitely needed the cinnamon and cardamom! My friend’s mom said she wouldn’t change a thing and like them reheated.
Food of the Month 