Cranberry and pear cobbler with gingerbread-spiced biscuits

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Mix brown sugar and cranberries in the pan, bashing the cranberries a little; thaw frozen cranberries a little first.

Fold in the Bartlett pears with their skins on, then mix in cornstarch, vanilla extract, chopped crystallized ginger and salt.

Bake the fruit about 20 minutes to start cooking down and get juicy.

Mix all-purpose flour, brown sugar, ground ginger, cinnamon, ground cloves, baking soda, baking powder and salt, breaking up the lumps of brown sugar.

Cut one stick of cold butter into the flour with a pastry blender (or two butter knives) until in small cold pebbly pieces; chill the mixture 15 minutes if the butter gets warm.

Mix the heavy cream, molasses and one large egg.

Mix the wet into the dry with a fork until evenly moistened without overworking; a slightly dry dough bakes more tender.

Turn the dough onto the work surface, gather it into a rectangle and cut it into eight biscuits.

Top the partially cooked fruit with the biscuits, brush the tops with a little cream and sprinkle with sanding sugar.

Bake another 20 to 22 minutes, until the fruit bubbles and a toothpick shows moist crumbs or the centre feels a little firm.