pear almond cake
It’s winter, aka pear season, aka time to do lots of baking because the house is freezing and it feels like it’s in the single digits outside so I won’t be going for walks for the foreseeable future so I’ll just bake on repeat. This every day cake is perfect to eat as a post-lunch snack or for dessert with some lightly sweetened whipped cream. The pears sink to the bottom so it almost becomes an upside down cake, but requires less steps and less butter. Win win! (If you don’t do nuts, increase the AP flour to 1 cup and swap vanilla in for the almond extract.) Because the butter is browned, you don’t have to soften your butter ahead of time, so you can literally make this whenever you want. Life should be easy. Swap in whatever fruit you’d like. I don’t make the rules.
pear almond cake
yield: 12 servings
1 stick (4 oz, 113 g) unsalted butter (cold is ok)
3 eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup (150 g) sugar
1/2 tsp almond extract
3/4 cup (90 g) flour
1/4 cup (24 g) almond flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 ripe pears (I used bartlett pears)
Powdered sugar, for decoration
Brown the butter: In a small saucepan, heat the butter over low heat until it starts to foam and smell nutty. When you see the milk solids (specks) have turned medium brown, remove the pan from the heat. Set aside.
Prep the pears: Cut your pears into 1/2 inch chunks. Set aside. Butter and flour a 9 inch springform pan. Preheat oven to 350F.
Whip the eggs in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment on medium. Once they start to get a little lighter in color (a couple of minutes), add the sugar. Whip for at least 5 minutes until the eggs are pale, airy and ribbony. Add in the extract. Turn the mixer to low speed. Add the almond flour, then half of the butter, then half of the flour, then the second half of the butter, then the rest of the flour plus the baking powder and salt. Mix just until combined. Pour into your prepared pan.
Bake for 40-45 minutes, until a tester comes out clean. Make sure you aren’t piercing fruit and are just getting batter- you’ll be able to feel if you hit a piece of pear. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before running a knife along the edge of the cake and releasing it from the collar. Dust with powdered sugar. Eat.
