1. Preheat oven to 160C.

2. Toast fennel seeds in a small non-stick frying pan over medium heat, shaking often, until fragrant (about 1 to 2 minutes). Cool, then finely grind using a mortar and pestle. Return the ground fennel to the pan and add the remaining filling ingredients. Cook over low-medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring regularly. Remove the bay leaves.

3. For the crumble, add the topping ingredients to a bowl and use your hands to combine until the mixture becomes coarse chunks.

4. Pour the pears into a 25cm diameter round baking dish and scatter over the topping mixture. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until pears are bubbling and the crumble topping has browned. Remove and gently push the white chocolate chunks into the pear mixture. Wait until the residual heat melts the chocolate, then scatter with dried rose petals, if using, and serve.

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