All Recipes

Pear Cake with Cinnamon Sugar

Pear Cake with Cinnamon Sugar
  • Category

    Dessert

  • Cusine

    American

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup cold, unsalted butter, cut into thick slices

1/4 cup milk

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 large or 4 medium Anjou, Bosc or Bartlett pears

Whipped cream, for serving

Directions

Set a shelf in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Butter a 9-inch cake pan or a 9-inch fluted tart tin with a removable rim. Dust with flour and tap out the excess.

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt until blended. Add the butter pieces and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. In a measuring cup, lightly beat the milk, egg, and vanilla with a fork until blended. Add to the bowl of the food processor and process until the dough is smooth. With the back of a spoon or a small offset spatula, spread the batter evenly in the cake pan .

Halve the pears. Use a melon baller to cut out the cores and remove the stem ends. Slice the halves into 1/4-inch-thick slices.

in a small bowl, mix the sugar and cinnamon until combined.

Starting at the outside edge, arrange the pears over the batter in a circular pattern, overlapping them slightly to cover the batter. Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar.

Set the pan on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean, and the cake looks golden at the edges.

Let the cake rest in the pan for 10 minutes. If you used a pan with a removable rim, go around the edge the cake with the tip of a knife to release the edges. Set the pan on top of a small bowl and let the rim drop away. Cut into slices from the pan and serve warm or at room temperature. A dollop of whipped cream is always a nice touch.