Vanilla Pear Cake
This Vanilla Pear Cake is a beautiful homemade dessert that is simple to prepare but lovely enough for a special occasion. The caramelized pear topping gives the cake a warm, fruity sweetness, while the vanilla cake base stays soft, light, and comforting.
Equipment
- Cake tin
- Balloon Whisk
Ingredients
Topping
- 4 tablespoon unsalted butter
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 3 pears ripe
For cake
- 1 ½ cup all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 4 tablespoon flax egg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2-3 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup water
Instructions
Make the topping
- Melt butter in a pan over low heat. Add brown sugar, stirring until dissolved. remove from heat, and cool. Pour this sugar mixture into the greased cake tin .
- Cut pears into 1/4-inch-thick wedges, and arrange them in a circular pattern over the sugar mixture to cover completely set aside.
Make the batter
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt .
- Cream butter and sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy for 2 minutes. Add vanilla extract , beat to combine. Add milk , egg replacer and water and beat till combine.
- Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, and mix until the flour is incorporated.
- Pour the batter over the arranged pears carefully.
- Bake until well browned on top and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean for about 45 minutes.
- Run a knife around inside of pan, and immediately invert the cake onto a serving dish.
Notes
Pears
Use ripe but firm pears. If the pears are too hard, they may not soften enough during baking. If they are too soft, they may break while slicing or arranging. Bartlett, Conference, Anjou, or Bosc pears all work well. Peel the pears if you prefer a smoother topping, or leave the skin on for a more rustic look.Butter
Unsalted butter is best because it allows you to control the salt level in the cake. It is used in both the topping and the cake batter, giving the recipe a rich, homemade flavor.Brown Sugar
Brown sugar creates the caramel-like topping for the pears. As it melts with butter, it forms a sweet syrup that coats the fruit beautifully.Vanilla
Vanilla is a key flavor in this cake. Use good-quality pure vanilla extract if possible. A vanilla bean will give a more aromatic and bakery-style flavor.Egg Replacer
This recipe uses egg replacer instead of eggs. Mix or prepare the egg replacer according to the package instructions before adding it to the batter, unless your specific product says it can be added directly. Tried this recipe?Mention @Behlsapana or tag #cookingwithsapana!