Preheat the
oven to 350F, Gas 4. Heat the butter in a heavy frying pan over a
moderate heat, add the breadcrumbs and stir until golden. Peel and core
the pears, then cut them into thick slices and mix with the
blackberries, orange rind and juice. Mix the demerara sugar with the
breadcrumbs, then layer with the fruit in a 900ml buttered baking dish,
beginning and ending with a layer of sugared breadcrumbs. Sprinkle the
extra sugar over the top. Cover the baking dish, then bake the pudding
for 20 minutes. Uncover the pudding, then bake for a further 30-35
minutes, until the fruit is cooked and the top brown and crisp.
To make Apple
and Raspberry Brown Betty, substitute tart eating apples for the pears
and use fresh, but not too ripe, raspberries in place of the
blackberries. All this delicious fruity pudding needs to go with it is
some hot, home made custard, pouring cream or ice cream.
