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bite of pear-raspberry cake

Pear-Raspberry Cake

Sunnyside Cook

Dawn Dobie
A simple cake that uses pantry ingredients for its batter but is elevated by the addition of fresh pears and raspberries
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Cooling time 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours
Servings 9

Ingredients
  

For fruit mixture

  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter room temperature
  • 2 Bartlett pears --peeled, cored, and chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 cup fresh raspberries (4.5 ounces)

For cake batter

  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ginger
  • zest of one lemon
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter --room temperature
  • 3 large eggs --room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice --from zested lemon
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions
 

Prepare pan

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter bottom and sides of 9 X 9 X 2 inch pan. Flour sides of pan and cover bottom of pan with parchment paper, extending the paper above two sides by an inch or two (to help lift cake out later).

Prepare fruit mixture

  • Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add chopped pears and stir. Sprinkle pears with 1 tablespoon sugar and cook for 8- 10 minutes, until pears are soft, stirring frequently. All juices should be cooked away. Transfer pear pieces to wide bowl and spread out to cool. Keep raspberries set aside.

Prepare cake

  • Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and ground ginger in small bowl and mix well. Set aside.
  • Zest lemon over 3/4 cup sugar so that sugar can absorb all of the oils from the zest. Gently stir.
  • Using electric mixer, beat 6 tablespoon of butter until fluffy. Add sugar-lemon zest mixture and beat well. Add eggs to creamed mixture one at a time, beating after each. Beat in lemon juice and vanilla extract.
  • Add flour mixture to batter and beat until combined.
  • Spread about 1 3/4 cups batter in bottom of pan and spread in even layer with offset spatula. (it should be about 1/2--3/4 inch thick.)
  • Distribute pear pieces over batter evenly. Place raspberries among pears.
  • Drop remaining batter onto top of pears and raspberries by teaspoonfuls, realizing that there will be a little space between each. The batter will spread as the cake bakes.
  • Bake for 40 minutes, rotating pan after 20 minutes. Baked cake should be golden brown on top and have a toothpick come out clean when inserted into center.
  • Cool completely on rack.
  • Lift out of pan and transfer to plate to serve.

Notes

Adapted from a recipe for “Apple-Raspberry Cake” by Stephane Beaucamp in Bon Appétit (June 2001)
Golden Delicious apples can be substituted for pears.