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!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Servings: 12
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 bottom of 9-inch round non-stick baking pan with parchment paper.
-
In 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 other two into large chunks (avoiding core).
-
Arrange sliced pear in prepared pan in any design you wish.
-
Pour 1/4 cup of maple syrup over pears, reserving rest.
-
Put pear chunks into blender with 2 tablespoons water, then blend well until reach consistency of applesauce.
-
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 design.
-
Bake until inserting toothpick in middle comes out clean (about 35-45 minutes).
-
Remove from oven and let rest on kitchen counter for 10 minutes.
-
Run knife around edge of pan to loosen any stuck-on parts of cake.
-
Place serving dish over cake and invert, tapping lightly to dislodge cake from pan.
-
Very carefully take off parchment paper and serve.