Pear Cake with Cinnamon Sugar
Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 30 mins
Total Time: 50 mins
Servings: 6 to 8 servings
Ingredients:
For the cake:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick/4 tablespoons) cold, unsalted butter, cut into thick slices
1/4 cup milk
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
For the topping:
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 large or 4 medium Anjou, Bosc, or Bartlett pears
Whipped cream, for serving (optional)
Special Equipment:
Food processor
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Set a shelf in the middle of the oven. Butter a 9-inch cake pan or a 9-inch fluted tart tin with a removable rim. Dust with flour and tap out the excess.
Make the batter:
In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt until blended. Add the butter pieces and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
In a measuring cup, lightly beat the milk, egg, and vanilla with a fork until blended. Add to the bowl of the food processor and process until the dough is smooth.
With the back of a spoon or a small offset spatula, spread the batter evenly in the cake pan (the batter will be thick).
Slice the pears:
Halve the pears. Use a melon baller to cut out the cores and remove the stem ends. Slice the halves into 1/4-inch-thick slices.
Make the cinnamon sugar:
In a small bowl, mix the sugar and cinnamon until combined.
Top the cake:
Starting at the outside edge, arrange the pears over the batter in a circular pattern, overlapping them slightly to cover the batter. Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar.
Bake the cake:
Set the pan on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean, and the cake looks golden at the edges.
Cool and serve the cake:
Let the cake rest in the pan for 10 minutes. If you used a pan with a removable rim, go around the edge the cake with the tip of a knife to release the edges. Set the pan on top of a small bowl and let the rim drop away.
Cut into slices from the pan and serve warm or at room temperature. A dollop of whipped cream is always a nice touch.
Notes:
What Are the Best Pears for This Cake?
The pears in this cake should be ripe, since they do not soften well when they bake if they are hard to begin with. The choices are many—this is a throw-together cake, not a fancy one, so use what you can find.
That said, Bosc, Anjou, and French butter pears keep their shape well when baked, while Bartlett pears are somewhere in the middle, and Comice pears tend to lose their shape.
I usually use Anjou pears since they are easy to find and work well. Since this is such a rustic, simple cake, I don’t bother to peel them, which also saves time.
Can You Make This Cake Ahead?
The $64,000 question always is, can I make it ahead?
I’m sorry to disappoint you, but this cake is best eaten on the day it is made. BUT, if you cover it well with foil and store it at room temperature, you won’t cry if there’s some left over the next day!
Nutritional Facts:
216
Calories
7g
Fat
37g
Carbs
3g
Protein
Recipe courtesy of Simply Recipes.com