We are in September and this is pretty much the fag end of the season
for many a fruits - including pears. It has been a wonderful summer with
abundance of both pome and stone fruits. Have been using them up in different
ways -chutneys, jellies and of course jams. Some of the pears have been poached
in brandy syrup and hopefully they would last till the next season. This was my
first attempt so keeping my fingers crossed that they taste as good as they
look after poaching.
In this season I had already made pear cake twice - however the
son liked it so much that I made another one for him to take to college. So it
was like enough of pear cakes for the summer but when I came across this new
cake recipe I couldn't resist it and wanted to try it immediately. But the
recipe specified - "fully ripened pears", so I had to be patient -
not an easy thing for me for once a recipe catches my fancy my fingers ache to
get on with it. Anyways, so the pears were left outside to ripen, which
took a couple of days because the hubby saw them lying outside and put them
promptly back in the refrigerator ... can't blame him with temperatures
hovering around 40 degrees C, ordinarily it sure would be madness to leave anything
outside.
Finally it got made and what an amazing cake it was, the
taste of cinnamon coming through so nicely. It didn't need any fancy glazing or much
glamming up, just a fine dusting of icing sugar in case you wish to. A full bodied cake
whose taste just grows on you and the flavors get more enhanced with each
passing day ... only if you are able to make it last till then.
This Pear Spice Cake comes from Euro Pane bakery in Pasadena, California which featured in the LA Times and made it to their list of top ten recipes of 2012. A guest at the restaurant had liked
the cake so much that she requested for the recipe and the owner Sumi Chang
shared it with LA Times. This is in the owners’ words a 'humble looking cake
but the taste is incredible". It is now an absolute favorite of mine with
its firm well browned top, moist base and an incredible fragrance.
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| Pear spice cake |
3 cups ( 12.75 ounces ) flour
11/2 teaspoon baking powder
11/2 teaspoon baking soda
11/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 eggs
3 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
7 ripe pears, peeled, cored and chopped into cubes
2 cups walnuts
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. grease a 13 by 9 inch baking pan,
line the bottom with parchment paper then grease again.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, soda and
cinnamon and set aside
In a separate large bowl beat together the eggs and sugar, then
beat in the oil. Beat in the flour mixture until just combined then fold in the
pears and nuts.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until puffed and
golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean, about 1 hour and 20 minutes.
Check the cake after an hour and cover the top loosely with a sheet of foil if
it browns too quickly before it is done. Remove and cool completely on a rack
before serving.
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