


Pecan pear cake with maple glaze
The perfect cake for fall with seasonal pears and an earthy, sweet topping.
My local grocery likes to move things around every once in a while, just to keep us routine shoppers on our toes (and spending more). During the last overhaul of their produce department, I asked the manager if they just moved things around or if there were actually new products. He directed me to a gorgeous, colorful display of pears, all shapes, sizes and colors, pointing out that they had just come in and the season wouldn’t last long.
I picked out some smooth, sweet red Bartletts, adorable little seckel pears and a couple d’anjous to round it out (literally – they remind me of squat little toddlers who are almost as wide as they are tall).
Once home, I had to come up with a dessert recipe using some of the pears, and boy was that fun. I dug up an blue ribbon white cake recipe, made some slight modifications, and then rallied the taste testing crew. Turns out we nabbed it on the first try. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
- 1 cup unbleached flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1 cup coconut (or almond) milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 1 pear, diced
- 1 cup candied pecans, chopped
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon maple extract
- 2-4 tablespoon hot water
For cake:
For filling:
For maple glaze:
Directions
Preheat oven to 350° F. Combine all dry ingredients and mix. Add liquid ingredients and stir until fully incorporated.
Pour half the batter into a greased and floured bundt pan.
Mix diced pears and chopped pecans in a small bowl. (*If you don’t have candied pecans, mix whole pecans with 1/3 cup sugar in a Ziploc bag and pound with a smooth mallet until chopped.)
Sprinkle over batter, then cover with remaining batter.
Bake for approximately 40 minutes or until cake is set.
Before glazing, cake should be completely cool. (Photo: Sarah F. Berkowitz)
When cake is completely cool, mix glaze ingredients until a thick and pourable consistency is achieved (you may have to add a bit more water or powdered sugar). Drizzle over cake.
Allow glaze to harden before covering. Stays fresh for up to a day, can be frozen for a month or more if tightly wrapped.
This perfectly fall-themed cake is topped with a sweet maple glaze. (Photo: Sarah F. Berkowitz)
Related Topics: Baking, Desserts
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