Pears, hazelnuts pair up in a delicious Christmas cake
Pear and Hazelnut Cake Makes 8 to 10 servings
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup finely ground fresh breadcrumbs
12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ¼ cups sugar, plus ¼ cup for the pears (divided)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 tablespoons whole milk
5 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups flour
¼ cup ground hazelnuts, plus ¼ cup for serving (divided)
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 ripe Comice pears
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
¼ cup powdered sugar Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush side and bottom of a 3-inch-deep 9-inch springform pan with olive oil, and dust with fresh bread crumbs.
In a large bowl, use a handheld electric mixer on medium-low to cream together the butter, 1 ¼ cups sugar, the vanilla and milk until mixture is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well incorporated.
In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, ¼ cup hazelnuts, the baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add dry ingredients to wet, and mix with a wooden spoon 1 minute, until combined. Set batter aside.
Peel and core the pears, and slice each one into 8 even slices. Place pears in a bowl, and toss with remaining ¼ cup sugar and the lemon zest and juice.
Pour batter into prepared springform pan. Arrange pear slices on top of batter, forming two concentric circles with 6 slices on the inside circle and 18 on the outside, with the stem end of each piece pointing toward the center. (They will sink a bit).
Place pan in preheated oven and bake 1 ½ hours or until cake is golden brown on top and toothpick inserted toward center comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool 20 minutes.
Release springform sides and place cake on a platter. Sprinkle top of cake with remaining ¼ cup ground hazelnuts, dust with the powdered sugar, and cut into slices to serve.