In winter, there is something warming about a delicate pastry filled with winter fruits and served with lashings of cream and yoghurt. It doesn't matter how many fancy desserts I prepare, a good old-fashioned fruit pie always gets the best reaction. This pie, which features ripe pears layered with a lemon sour-cream filling wrapped in a crunchy butter pastry, is a perfect ending for this meal.

Ingredients

Pastry

• 2½ cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ cup semolina
• ¾ cup icing sugar
• 225 grams unsalted butter, diced and chilled
• 2 egg yolks

Filling

• 8 ripe pears
• grated rind 2 lemons
• ¾ cup sour cream
• ½ cup caster sugar
• 2 eggs

Method

Pastry

1. Blend the flour, baking powder, semolina, icing sugar and butter in a food processor until the mixture resembles crumbs.
2. Mix the egg yolks with approximately 2 tablespoons water and pulse into the mixture in the food processor until it forms small, moist balls of dough. Add more water if necessary. Do not process the mixture until it forms a ball, as the dough will become too sticky and thick, resulting in a tough pastry.
3. Turn out onto a board and bring together to form a ball. Roll two-thirds out to cover the base and sides of a loose-bottomed 23cm flan. Chill in the fridge with the remaining pastry while preparing the filling.

Filling

1. Peel, core and thinly slice the pears. In a bowl, beat together the lemon rind, sour cream, sugar and eggs, then stir in the pear slices.
2. Pour the filling into the prepared base. Roll out the remaining pastry and cover the flan, sealing the edges together well. Decorate with any pastry scraps (I grated them over the top).
3. Bake at 220ºC for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 180ºC and cook for a further 35-40 minutes, until the pastry is golden and the pear slices are cooked. Serve warm or cold.

Cooks Tips

- Semolina is coarsely ground flour and it will add a delicious crunchy texture to this pastry. You do not have to use semolina but you will need to add something else in its place such as flour or cornflour.