Skillet Spiced Pears with Buckwheat-Almond Topping

Photo by Michael Piazza / Styled by Catrine Kelty

Both the topping and pear filling are made in the skillet over the fire. The pears are tender, luscious and saucy with some caramel notes, and the topping is buttery, crisp and nutty (think crumbled cookie). Look for pears that are just ripe or slightly underripe—if the pears are too soft, they will break down and become mushy.

Serves 4–6

TOPPING
⅓ cup all-purpose flour
⅓ cup buckwheat flour
⅓ cup finely chopped slivered almonds
⅓ cup light brown sugar
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 tablespoons salted butter, melted, and 1 tablespoon left at room temperature

PEAR FILLING
2 pounds just ripe, or slightly underripe Bosc pears (about 4–5 medium pears), peeled, cored and sliced into ½-inch wedges
½ cup light brown sugar
¼ cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon lemon juice
¾ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon salted butter
vanilla ice cream, to serve

Build your fire using a log cabin method. Start with six logs and let them burn until the wood has broken down into white-hot coals covered with a layer of ash. Once most of the logs have carbonized into large embers, spread the coals evenly across the fire pit. For all of the recipes except the fish, move any partially burned logs to the perimeter of the fire and add fresh logs on top. Throughout the cook, maintain a medium-hot fire by raking fresh coals from the burning logs into the cooking area and replenishing the fire with additional wood as needed.

For the pears, you will need a moderate fire.

Combine flours, almonds, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Pour melted butter over dry ingredients and add vanilla extract. Mix together with your hands by squeezing to create marble-size clumps. The mixture can be refrigerated while the fire is burning down.

Toss pears, sugar, cream, cornstarch, lemon juice, ginger, cardamom, salt and black pepper in a large bowl until thoroughly combined. Set aside while fire is burning down.

Place a 10-inch cast-iron skillet on the grill and melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Add streusel to pan and cook, stirring gently and often and breaking up any larger clumps into marble-size pieces until browned, slightly firm and fragrant, 8–10 minutes. (Streusel will firm up even more as it cools.) Transfer to a bowl and set aside. Clean out the skillet with a paper towel.

Melt butter in skillet. Add pear mixture and cook, stirring frequently, until pears have released enough liquid to be mostly submerged, the juices have thickened and turned glossy, and the pears are tender, 8–10 minutes. Remove from the fire, sprinkle topping over pears, and let it cool for at least 10 minutes to thicken the filling. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

This recipe appeared in the Fall 2026 issue as part of a larger story, Fire Season: A Fall Gathering.