{"id":24257,"date":"2020-11-20T08:49:18","date_gmt":"2020-11-20T14:49:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cupcakeproject.com\/?p=24257"},"modified":"2020-12-14T14:18:16","modified_gmt":"2020-12-14T20:18:16","slug":"pear-cake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cupcakeproject.com\/pear-cake\/","title":{"rendered":"Pear Cake"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This pear cake pays homage to all the tastes that my family loves. It’s a sweet honey cake with wine-soaked poached pears, sliced almonds, and a love of baking that has been passed down through the generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Pear<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I grew up eating rustic, unfrosted cakes that got their flavor from fruit and nuts – think apple cake with fresh apples on top, banana cake (which I now make as banana cupcakes<\/a>), and walnut sour cream coffee cake<\/a>. We had an ever-present honey jar and Dad would sometimes forgo cake entirely for toasted nuts drenched in honey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While we never had this particular pear cake, it tastes like home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ingredients and Equipment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This recipe has two main components, poached pears and the cake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The poached pears require red wine, brown sugar, a cinnamon stick, whole cloves, star anise, and lemon peel. Use a dry red wine to really infuse them with a ton of flavor. I also recommend that you get firm pears that hold their shape and texture after poaching and baking; I use Bosc pears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Pear<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You won’t need too many special ingredients to make the cake. In addition to pantry staples, it requires almond meal and sliced almonds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, you’ll need a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan [paid link]<\/a> to make the cake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How It’s Made<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Poaching Pears<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This cake uses fresh poached pears (pears that are boiled in wine) that stand up tall and are revealed in full when the cake is sliced open. There are some tricks to making this work so the pears don’t fall onto their sides during the bake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To make sure the pears stay upright, slice off the bottoms of the pears to make a flat surface<\/strong> just after you peel them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Slicing<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It’s OK if they lean a little, but the pears look best when they are standing tall and proud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also want to use a melon baller to scoop out the seeds from the bottoms of the pears. No one wants to bite into seeds with their delicious cake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deseeding<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Next, poach the pears:<\/p>\n\n\n\n