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Pear Cake

"With Rum Raisin Walnuts"

pear cake

This pear cake is one of three recipes I have in my pear recipes collection. And with the little twists it's one of those Italian cakes that makes pear haters change their ways. My kids won't touch a pear when it sits in the fruit bowl. They'd rather stick a bicycle spoke in their eye. BUT they ate this WHOLE cake last night. I said, "You're eating pears, ya know!" They gave me the "whatever" look.

What makes this unique is the rum raisin walnuts - and the fact the cake uses pears. You will find out if you poke around Italian dessert recipes much - that we LOVE our liqueur. We love to flavor with it, drink it, talk about it, experiment with it. So, you can use it, or not.

There are several - many - ok, just lots of tons of substitutions for this recipe. Check out the section below.

As for the the cake portion is just a basic butter cake. Which I think is YUM! No surprises there. The zing is the pears with the rum raisin walnuts. Z-i-n-g!

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Pear Cake

YIELD: With rum raisins and walnuts

Ingredients

* 1 cup (2 sticks) butter softened

* 1 cup granulated sugar

* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

* 1 tsp baking powder

* 1/3 cup raisins

* 3 eggs

* 1 lb pears peeled, cored and sliced.

* 1 Tbsp raw sugar or granulated sugar (for sprinkling)

* 1/3 cup walnuts, chopped

Glaze Ingredients

* 2 1/2 Tbsp butter

* 2 Tbsp brown sugar

* 1 1/2 Tbsp rum

Pear Cake Procedure

* Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and grease an 8 inch round pan or springform.

* Measure raisins in 1/3 cup and fill raisins to the top. Don't dump the raisins out! Next, add enough rum to fill the measuring cup. Set aside and allow to soak. You can zap in the micro for a very short time to hasten the process if you want.

* Sift the flour, baking powder and set aside.

* In mixing bowl, beat the sugar and butter together. Add the eggs, one at a time.

* Reduce the mixer speed and add the flour mixture or fold it in by hand.

* Spoon this mixture into a prepared cake pan and place the pear slices on top of the cake.

* Sprinkle with the 1 Tbsp of sugar, dot with the remaining butter and scatter the walnuts and the rum raisins on the pears.

* Melt glaze ingredients and drizzle over pear and walnuts.

* Bake for 35- or until a skewer comes out clean. Let it cool slightly before cutting yourself a slice.

Inspired by Purplefoodie blog - Pear Cake with Ginger Recipe. Thanks for sharing!


Do I need to skin the pears?

You don't have to skin them but, if you do, your cake will turn out prettier than mine.


Can I substitute for the raisins?

  • craisins
  • cranberries
  • currants
  • golden raisins
  • or skip 'em
  • There are no *rules* this isn't grade school. If you hate 'em skip 'em. If you have something with like texture in your pantry - then - there ya go! Use it up!


    Can I substitute the rum?

    Yep! Try one of the following:

  • bourbon
  • amaretto
  • vanilla rum - yeah, it's still a rum, but it flavors well. I actually used it when I made this cake last night.

  • Do I have to use butter?

    Absolutely - until the day you die! Go through every cake recipe you have and CROSS out "shortening" or "margarine"!


    Can I add rum to the cake batter?

    Yep - but remember if you add it - it's moisture. So adjust the recipe to allow for that.


    Can I use any pear type?

    Yep - but you don't want too mushy.

    Back to the Pear Cake Recipe.


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