Chunky Pear Nut Cake

Chunky Pear Nut Cake

A moist and delicious cake, easy to make and flavored with spices and juicy pears.

These days, I wander around grocery stores like I used to wander around clothing stores. In Santa Cruz, we are fortunate to have several grocery stores that carry a wide variety of healthy food. I have my favorite stores and several weekly farmers' markets to choose from. We have some great bakeries and delicatessens too. I feel spoiled when I look at all the choices I have. I like to know where food is coming from—not enriched or altered with unnecessary chemicals and additives. I trust some stores more than others. One of the reasons I don't bake as much as I used to is that it is just so tempting to get something very tasty from one of my favorite places. But there are times when I need to have something homemade on my kitchen counter, like this moist and easy-to-make pear cake. ​

The credit for this well-loved cake goes to Gale Gand, a nationally acclaimed pastry chef from Illinois. I found her recipe in an old magazine years ago and have been making it whenever pears are in season. However, this cake is easily made with any other fruit and whatever nuts you have in the pantry. I roast my nuts, and prefer using pecans instead of walnuts. The spices in the recipe add a distinct flavor and are well balanced. I also reduced the amount of sugar by one third. I use canola oil, but any vegetable oil will do. The cake is flavorful, moist and tastes even better the next day.

One of my first blog posts were crepes filled with goat cheese and mushrooms. I make them for my niece when she comes to visit me from Germany.

A moist and delicious cake, easy to make and flavored with spices and juicy pears.

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Ingredients

12 servings

1 cup golden raisins
2 cups all-purpose flour 
3 eggs 
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract 
1 cup canola oil
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon 
½ tsp. ground cloves
½ tsp. ground allspice 
2 cups peeled pear chunks 
(from about 3 pears) 
1 cup toasted and chopped pecans or walnuts














Lemon Juice  Glaze 

1 cup powdered sugar
1-3 TBS lemon juice

Marple Syrup Glaze

½ cup maple syrup
1 ½ cup powdered sugar

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. 

Roast the nuts for 8 minutes or less. 

Toss the raisins in 2 TBS flour to prevent them from sinking in the cake batter. 

Beat the eggs and sugar mixture until yellow and fluffy for several minutes.

With the mixer running slowly pour in the oil and the vanilla.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice. 

Mix into the egg mixture, don’t over mix.

Stir in the nuts, pears and raisins.

Spray a 10-inch tube pan with cooking oil. Spoon the mixture into the pan and bake for 45 minutes or more until dry in the center. Test with a toothpick. The cake is done when an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Let the cake cool on a wire rack, then turn it upside down.

Glazes

Stir the ingredients of the glaze you have chosen until smooth and has no lumps. Start with a little liquid, adding more when needed. Spoon the glaze over the cake, letting it drip down the sides.

Guten Appetit!
recipe by Gale Gan
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