Old Fashioned Pear Cake Recipes

CLASSIC PEAR UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. In medium bowl, combine powdered sugar and 3/4 cup butter; beat at low speed until crumbly. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well at medium speed after each addition. Add vanilla; beat well. Add flour, cornmeal and baking powder; mix well.
• Place 1/4 cup butter in 9-inch round cake pan. Heat in oven for about 4 minutes or until butter is melted. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over butter. Arrange pear slices over mixture in pan, slightly overlapping. Spoon and carefully spread cake batter over pears.
• Bake at 350°F. for 55 to 65 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 5 minutes. Invert onto serving plate. Serve warm or cool with whipped cream.

PEAR UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Make the topping: Melt butter in the bottom of a 10 1/2-inch cast-iron skillet over low heat. Add brown sugar, stirring until dissolved. Swirl to coat the bottom; remove from heat, and cool. Cut pears into 1/4-inch-thick wedges, and arrange them in a circular pattern over the brown-sugar mixture to cover completely; set aside.
• Make the batter: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add vanilla extract; beat to combine. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating to combine.
• Alternating with the milk, gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, and mix, on low speed, just until the flour is incorporated.
• In a large bowl, beat reserved egg whites and the cream of tartar with a hand mixer until stiff but not dry. Using a rubber spatula, fold egg whites into the batter. Transfer to skillet. Using an offset spatula, spread the batter evenly, being careful not to disturb the pears.
• Bake until well browned on top and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Run a knife around inside of pan, and immediately invert the cake onto a serving dish. Serve warm or at room temperature.

AUNT JOSEPHINE'S FRESH PEAR CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9-inch fluted tube pan (such as a Bundt®) with cooking spray; dust lightly with flour.
• Mix flour, baking soda, sea salt, allspice, cinnamon, and cloves together in a bowl.
• Beat sugar and grapeseed oil together in a separate bowl until creamy; stir in eggs. Stir flour mixture into sugar mixture; add pears. Blend batter with an electric mixer until thickened, about 3 minutes. Fold pecans into the batter and mix by hand until batter is well blended, about 2 more minutes. Pour batter into prepared pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes. Loosen cake from pan by gently running the edge of a knife between cake and pan; let cool in pan for 20 minutes. Place a cake plate upside-down atop cake and flip pan to turn cake onto plate.

OLD-FASHIONED PEAR DESSERT

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the flour, 3 tablespoons sugar and salt; cut in butter until crumbly. In a small bowl, whisk egg yolks and lemon juice; stir into dry ingredients with a fork. Remove 1 cup to another bowl; stir in the remaining sugar and set aside for the topping. , Press remaining crumb mixture onto the bottom and up the sides of a greased 8-in. square baking dish. Bake at 375° for 10-12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned., Meanwhile, for filling, combine the sugar, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, salt and cinnamon in a small saucepan; slowly stir in water and lemon juice until smooth. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 1 minute or until thickened. Remove from the heat; stir in butter and vanilla., Toss pears with remaining cornstarch; spoon over crust. Top with filling. Sprinkle with reserved topping. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until filling is bubbly and topping is lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.

OLD-FASHIONED PEAR CAKE

Steps:

• Coat a 10-in. fluted tube pan with cooking spray and sprinkle with flour. In a large bowl, beat the sugar, yogurt, oil, egg whites and egg until well blended. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg and cloves; gradually beat into yogurt mixture until blended. Stir in pears and pecans., Transfer to prepared pan. Bake at 350° for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with confectioners' sugar.

OLD FASHIONED PEAR SPICE CAKE [WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING]

Steps:

• In the large bowl of an electric mixture, combine sugar, oil, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger salt and flour.
• Mix to blend; then beat at medium-high speed for 5 minutes.
• Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Using a rubber spatula, fold pears and nuts into batter.
• Spread in an ungreased 9 by 13 inch baking pan.
• Bake in a 350 oven until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. (50-55 minutes).
• Let cool in pan on a wire rack.
• Meanwhile, prepare Cream Cheese Frosting.
• For frosting:.
• Beat [butter, cream cheese and vanilla] until fluffy.
• Gradually beat in powdered sugar until frosting is of good spreading consistency.
• Spread frosting over cool cake.