Pear Cake
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 2tablespoons butter, plus additional butter for the pan
- ½cup dry, fine, unflavored bread crumbs
- 2eggs
- ¼cup milk
- 1cup granulated sugar
- Tiny pinch salt
- 1½cups flour
- 2pounds ripe pears
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Preparation
- Step 1
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch-round layer-cake pan with butter and sprinkle with the bread crumbs. Turn the pan upside down and tap it or shake it lightly to get rid of all the loose crumbs.
- Step 2
In a bowl, beat together the eggs and milk. Add the sugar and salt and continue beating until well combined. Add the flour, mixing thoroughly with the other ingredients.
- Step 3
Peel the pears, slice in half and scoop out the seeds and core. Cut lengthwise into thin slices. Add to the bowl, mixing them well with the other ingredients; the batter will be very thick.
- Step 4
Spoon the batter into the pan, leveling it off with the back of a spoon or a spatula. Dot the surface with the butter.
- Step 5
Bake in the top rack of the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until the top is lightly golden.
- Step 6
Remove it from the pan as soon as it is cool and firm enough to handle. It may be served lukewarm or cold.
- To seal the deal, follow up with a glass of good, dry Marsala wine (as opposed to the cheap, sweet cooking Marsala).
Private Notes
Comments
I'm surprised by reports of bad experiences with this recipe. I've baked this cake many times because it's fast, easy, moist, and delicious, always inspiring raves and recipe requests. Be sure to use very ripe, juicy summer pears, not winter pears. (I freeze the peels and use them in smoothies.) And I always add a little vanilla to the batter. I serve the cake with lightly sweetened whipped cream flavored with Poire Willam or some other suitable fruit brandy if I have it. Highly recommended!
The online version of this recipe fails to note this is adapted from a Marcella Hazan recipe and Marcella's fingerprints are all over this recipe—in a very good way. I've made this cake a number of times and it has always gotten rave reviews (just yesterday I shared it with a group of friends, half of whom asked for the recipe). The quality of the pears is very important: be sure yours are sweet and ripe (buy extra and sample one first!).
This is a very old recipe, from back when The Times was only a printed rag and a page in the original magazine was dedicated to recipes every Sunday. Many impossible to make by your average cook. This one was clearly not too complicated and deserves to be committed to memory along side gezpacho, pesto and your favorite chili. Almost custard like when finished I cut back on the sugar to less then half a cup. Look up the Blood Orange cake made with olive oil from The Times as well.
Had to add about 2 Tbs milk to be able to fold everything together. The ripe Bartlett pears I used were so ripe I couldn't peel them. Took closer to an hour to finish. Absolutely delicious and sliced beautifully. I'll definitely make it again.
I had a lot of pears so I gave this two tries bc of some of the great reviews. It was easy enough to make so I thought a second try was warranted but it was still tough and dry (think street pretzel) in the bites that did not have pear (I even added extra pear the second time). I might be a glutton for punishment and try again over the summer with juicier pears. Custody bites were very good.
Everyone said it was the best cake they ever had. I cut back on sugar a bit and sprinkled the top with sugar and cinnamon.
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