On Tuesday afternoon, we had snow at our house. It wasn't just a few flurries. It snowed all afternoon and the flakes were big and wet, with an impressive amount sticking to the ground. There was still a small snowman in my neighbour's front yard yesterday (a piece of which Ellen decided to eat when she thought no one was looking...).The snow was coming down, I turned on the Christmas music, and with a little help from the kids, I made two of these pear cakes. The house smelled amazing, as you can imagine. I made the cakes in 8-inch and 10-inch sized spring form pans because I couldn't find a 9-inch one. The 10-inch cake took about 40 minutes to bake and the 8-inch cake took at least 10 minutes more than the large cake. The cakes were very moist. I meant to give some of the cake away, but they were just so - eatable!
Alan arrived home that night to a house full of wonderful smells and sounds. At least that was what I thought. He had a strange, pained expression when he realized that we were listening to Perry Como's Christmas CD - in October.
Bartlett Pear Cake
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 t. baking powder
1 1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
3/4 t. nutmeg
3/4 t. cinnamon
6 T. butter, softened
3/4 c. sugar
1 t. pure vanilla extract
1 egg
1 1/2 c. + 2 T. sour cream (I used whole milk yogurt)
1 c. grated Bartlett pear
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and line a 9-inch spring form pan with parchment paper. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and cinnamon.
2. In bowl of mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar together until light. Add eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed to low and add flour, alternating with the sour cream in three additions. Stir in grated pears.
Scrape batter into the prepared pan, sprinkle with coarse sugar, and bake for about 40 minutes or so, until done. Serve warm or at room temperature with your favourite ice cream.
