Roasted Pears with Blackberries, Ricotta and Lavender Sugar

This dessert recipe comes from Bon Appetit. As soon as I saw it in the magazine I absolutely knew I had to make it. Right away. I was not disappointed. It is amazing. I modified it slightly to make it a little less glycemic (it's not bad anyways) by using a mixture of coconut sugar and fructose instead of regular sugar. I've already made this three times in less than a month! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do :)

Lavender Sugar (makes a lot, save in an airtight container for future use):
1 cup fructose
1/2 cup coconut sugar
(or 1 1/2 cups regular sugar)
1 Tbs dried lavender flowers (I found at Sprouts and Whole Foods)

Grind all in food processor until lavender is finely chopped and thoroughly incorporated into sugars.

Remainder of ingredients:
2 unpeeled pears, preferably just ripe or slightly under-ripe, quartered and cored
1 Tbs lemon juice
about 1/2 of a 12 oz package frozen blackberries, preferably Marion blackberries
1/2 cup fresh ricotta cheese (needs to be a good brand, from the deli or fresh section, or you could also use crème fraîche)

Preheat oven to 425°F. Grease a 9x9 baking dish. In medium bowl, toss pears, lemon juice and 1 Tbs lavender sugar. Transfer pears to baking dish, cut sides down. Roast 10-15 mins. Turn pears so the other cut side is down, sprinkle with another Tbs of lavender sugar. Roast another 10 mins. Turn pears again so the skin side is down, add blackberries among pears, sprinkle with another Tbs lavender sugar. Set oven to broil and broil about 5 mins or until pears begin to brown, berries burst a bit and juices begin to caramelize. Divide pears, berries and every last bit of juice among 2 plates. Make sure to get every last bit of juice because it is lick-your-plate-good. Dollop ricotta on top and serve warm. 

You can easily increase the servings by using one pear per person and adjusting the sugar, lemon juice, and blackberries accordingly. Enjoy!