Howdy folks.

A real quick one today. A personal little favourite dessert of mine. The elements change, but the theory stays the same.

Fruit + Crunch + Ice Cream

This little combo is perfect to whip out for so many of those little life scenarios that crop up so much. FOR EXAMPLE:

1) An impromptu evening a deux, and the need for something a little decadent to top off the night.

2) The crappiest day at work ever, and you need to prove to yourself that you really are the best and deserve to be treated like it.

3) A couple of manky pears in the fridge and no other plans.

4) A sweet tooth the size of a small island nation.

This little technique is pretty much a perfect example of my whole philosophy towards food. Simple or complex, it doesn’t matter. It’s all about the taste, the texture, the combo. The smoky caramelised pears, warm in their syrup, with the cool smooth ice cream and crunchy spicy gingersnap crumbs for contrast. This whole recipe has a grand total of 4 ingredients and two of them are straight off the grocery store shelves.

Who cares about that when the result is so good?!?! There’s nothing weird (ingredients wise) in the cookies or the ice cream I buy, so while I agree that they would probably be better homemade, I can’t bring myself to really mind. This is fancy shmancy stuff. And I hardly did a damn thing. #LOVEIT

xx Sarah.

Caramelised Pear and Gingersnap Sundae Recipe

An original recipe by Sarah Coates for The Sugar Hit.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

2 pears

75g (1/3 cup) caster sugar

4 scoops ice cream (about 1/2 litre or 1 pint)

125g (6oz) gingersnaps

Peel the pears, slice in half and remove the core and seeds. In a heavy based saucepan that will fit the pear halves, place the sugar along with a splash of water over a medium heat. Cook the sugar and water, swirling the pan gently, until it reaches a dark amber colour. Quickly and carefully add the pear pieces and then turn the heat down and cook for about 5 minutes or until the pears are tender (depends on how ripe your pears are).

Now, you can either do this in advance (bonus) or do it when you’re ready to serve, but either way, get the ice cream out of the freezer and leave it to soften for a second. Meanwhile, bash or blitz your gingersnaps into a fine rubble, then scoop out your ice cream and toss it strait into the gingersnaps. Roll around and press lightly to coat before either serving immediately with the pears and a little of their syrup or tossing back in the freezer for later! YUMNESS.