Pear Cake With Pine Nuts Recipes

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.

GRAPPA CAKE ( ITALIAN PEAR CAKE )

Steps:

• Make pear cake: Preheat oven to 350 and lightly butter and flour an 8 1/2" springform pan, knocking out excess flour.
• In a bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon and baking powder.
• In another bowl, with an electric mixer beat together butter and 1 1/4 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in flour misture and milk alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture and beating until it is just combined after each addition. Stir in grappa.
• Peel and core pears; cut into 1/2" dice. Fold pears, raisins or prunes and pine nuts into batter. Pour batter into prepared pan and sprinkle top with remaining tablespoons sugar. Bake cake in middle of oven until a tester comes out with crumbs adhering to it, 45 - 50 minutes. Cool cake in pan on rack and remove side of pan.
• Make grappa sauce: In a bowl with an electric mixer beat together eggs, sugar and cinnamon until thick and pale. In a metal bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, melt butter and stir in egg mixture. Cook sauce, stirring constantly, until it is thickened and registers 165F on a candy thermometer (c. 7 min). Remove bowl from pan; stir in cream and grappa. Serve cake with warm sauce.

PEAR CAKE WITH PINE NUTS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Spread pine nuts in ungreased shallow pan. Bake uncovered 6 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until light brown. Cool.
• Spray 9-inch round cake pan with cooking spray. In large bowl, mix flour, sugar and salt. Cut in butter, using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions), until mixture looks like coarse meal. Remove 1/3 cup flour mixture to small bowl. Stir in cinnamon and toasted pine nuts; set aside.
• To remaining flour mixture in large bowl, add sour cream, milk, lemon peel, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda and egg. Beat with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Pour batter into cake pan. Arrange pear slices over batter. Sprinkle with reserved pine nut mixture.
• Bake 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on cooling rack.