Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Sunsets with a sliver of Pear Spice Cake.

Good news to my fellow bakers, the cake was a hit! After work, I took the pup with me to Cedarville to meet Eugene after his team’s basketball practice. 

{And just because I don’t put many self-portraits in my blog…here’s me & the pup waiting patiently outside the gym for practice to end.}

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The hubs & I had about an hour to kill between his practice and my devotions with the team, so we took Espn for a walk around campus.

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I said it yesterday, but it’s worth praising again – the colors of the leaves right now are amazing. For some reason, when I see a changing tree on my walks, it makes me stop moving, take a big deep-in-your-gut breath in, slowly breathe out, and smile. Bright, bold, God-gifted beauty.

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It was perfect timing for a walk…just as the sun was beginning to set {thanks, God!}

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And, in keeping with the theme of praising, my devotions with Eugene’s basketball girls went well – we talked about contentment & rest and devoured the Pear Spice Cake I brought them. While they tested out my cake, I heard a lot of interesting comments… “Yum”, “It’s so moist”, “I hate the word moist”, “Mm, the pears & nuts are great in this”, “is there pumpkin in it?” {answer’s no}, & “this is so good!”

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Granted, the girls are used to nasty college cafeteria food, so take their praises with a grain of salt, but I was able to snatch a small sliver that was left of the cake after our meeting and, yep, I think it’s good enough to post the recipe for future keeping.
So without further ado…

Pumpkin Spice Cake

{this recipe is very roughly adapted from Joy the Baker’s recipe…but I didn’t use the same ingredients or follow her steps at all – oops.}
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup applesauce
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1  cups buttermilk {I didn’t have buttermilk, so I used milk & lemon juice}
3 pears, peeled, cored and diced into roughly 1/2-inch pieces (about 1 to 1 1/4 cups of fruit)
1 cup walnuts (3 ounces)
Confectioner’s sugar {optional}

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First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees & spray your Bundt pan well so your cake doesn’t stick {mine stuck slightly…you may want to butter the pan and dust it with flour instead.}
Next, if you don’t have buttermilk, the substitute is a little less than 1 cup of milk and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar. It’s supposed to rest for about 5 minutes before you use it.

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Then you want to combine your whole-wheat flour,  all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Stir it with a fork to make sure it’s all mixed well.

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In your separate mixing bowl, add the butter, applesauce, vanilla, sugar, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg.

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Beat this on medium with an electric mixer for a few minutes until it looks fluffy. {My butter was still slightly frozen, so it was a challenge, but it worked out fine…not as fluffy as it was supposed to look, but who cares!} Then you want to add your eggs and beat well again.

Reduce speed to low, then add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately in batches, mixing well after each addition. 

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Next you’ll want to peel & dice your fresh pears.

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Fold in pear pieces and chopped walnuts. {I only had a handful of walnuts, but it was plenty. The nuts make the cake, so if you’re thinking about omitting them, I suggest you think again!}

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Spoon batter into your Bundt pan, smooth the top, and bake 40 to 50 minutes {or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.}   

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Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for about 10 minutes, flip it onto your cooling rack and cool completely…or as long as you can resist taking a bite. {See, I told you part of my cake stuck to the pan. Bummer. Once I sliced it, no one could tell the difference.}

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You can either make the praline walnut topping for the cake that’s in Joy the Baker’s recipe, or if you’re like me and in a rush, just sprinkle a little confectioner’s sugar on top & enjoy

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It was a really moist, cake full of a nice balance of spices and just a hint of the pear taste. Very nice combo!

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I think it’d be especially good with a cup of hot black tea. :)

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Recipe linked on:

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6 comments:

  1. I am your newest follower! Love your blog and your cake looks divine! My daughter is a pear fanatic. Think I might need to try this while she is home visiting from college! Thank you and HAPPY FRIDAY! {visiting from TSN}

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  2. Wow, that sounds delicious! I would have never thought to put pears in a cake like that. Thanks for sharing! Visiting from TT&J.
    Amy @ The Happy Scraps

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  3. Glad you like the recipe! Enjoy the spices in this Fall season! :)

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  4. YUM! come on over and link up to MMM :)

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  5. Your bundt cake looks beautiful! Gorgeous nature photos and cute pup too:)

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  6. Wow, this looks so good and perfectly seasonal! Thanks for sharing!

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