Spiced Pear Cake
Spiced Pear Cake
In my household we don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day, we celebrate Valentine’s Week! I generally make 2-3 desserts during Valentine’s Week with a grand finale of the chocolate variety on the 14th. I recently found some really good pears at a local farmers market, and so I decided to bake a Spiced Pear Cake for this year’s celebration. My kids were super skeptical about a pear cake at first, but once they tried it they just had to go back for seconds. The best part? This cake is fat-free and heart-healthy!
Ingredients
- 2 large pears
- 1 1/2 cups pastry flour
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup figs, (chopped)
- 3/4 cup maple syrup, (divided)
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line the bottom of a 9-inch round non-stick baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients and stir well. Set aside.
- Cut one pear into thin slices about 1/4-inch thick (avoiding core).
- Finely chop the other two into large chunks (avoiding core).
- Arrange sliced pear in a prepared pan in any design you wish.
- Pour 1/4 cup of maple syrup over the pears, reserving the rest.
- Put pear chunks into a blender with 2 tablespoons water, then blend well until reach the consistency of applesauce. reaches
- Make well in dry ingredients and pour in pear and apple sauce.
- Add remaining 1/2 cup maple syrup and other liquid ingredients, stirring until combined (don't over-stir!).
- Carefully spoon batter over pears so you don't move them and change the design.
- Bake until inserting toothpick in the middle comes out clean (about 35-45 minutes).
- Remove from oven and let rest on the kitchen counter for 10 minutes.
- Run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen any stuck-on parts of the cake.
- Place serving dish over cake and invert, tapping lightly to dislodge cake from pan.
- Very carefully take off the parchment paper and serve.
