Just pear-fect
Fall is a time to get cozy with baking and cooking with pears. Pears are harvested in the fall while they are still hard to prevent bruising and must be kept at room temperature to ripen. As they do, their color may change from green to yellow or red as is the case with Anjou and Bartlett. There is nothing so satisfying as enjoying a perfectly ripened pear with its velvety texture and buttery taste.
How do you know when a pear is ripe? When the skin begins to wrinkle just a bit at the stem end and is slightly soft to the touch, that is the moment to enjoy it either alone or with cheese or in desserts such as pies and cakes.
This delicious pear cake, which looks like it came from a pastry shop, is easy to make and is best eaten on the day that it is made. Serve it as is for breakfast or dessert. The best thing about pears is that they are available year round.
PEAR CAKE
½ c. crushed amaretti or other cookie crumbs 2 large ripe Bosc or Bartlett pears, cored and thinly sliced ⅓ c. honey or maple syrup 4 large eggs 1¼ c. sugar
6 T. olive oil
⅓ c. milk
3 c. unbleached all
purpose flour
2 t. baking powder
¼ t. salt
1 t. ground cinnamon
¼ t. ground nutmeg Powdered sugar for
dusting
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8- or 9-inch springform pan with butter/flour spray. Use half the cookies to coat the pan. Set the pan aside.
Combine the pears, honey or maple syrup in a bowl and set aside.
In a large bowl beat the eggs with the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the olive oil and, on low speed, the milk. Set aside.
Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg together. Combine the flour mixture with the egg mixture. Mix well. Stir in the remaining cookie crumbs.
Make an overlapping layer of pear slices in the base of the springform pan. Spread the batter over the pears. Make an overlapping layer of pears on top of the batter.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the cake is nicely browned and a cake skewer comes out clean when inserted in the middle.
Allow the cake to cool, then dust with confectioners sugar and cut into wedges to serve.
Find more great recipes at www.ciaoitalia.com.