Buttery Pear Dutch Baby

This beautiful Dutch Baby was extra special for my pear-loving family. Including pears made it taste similar to a clafoutis. I served it dusted with powdered sugar but others drizzled it with maple syrup as well. 🙂

The recipe was adapted from The Vanilla Bean Baking Book: Recipes for Irresistible Everyday Favorites and Reinvented Classics by Sarah Kieffer. I used sea salt and whole wheat pastry flour instead of all-purpose. Easy and delicious.

Yield: Serves 3 to 4 (one 10-inch Dutch Baby)

• 1 cup (120g) whole wheat pastry flour (or 1 cup (142g) all-purpose flour)
• 2 T cornstarch
• 1 T granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
• 4 large or extra-large eggs
• 1 cup milk, preferably whole
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 4 T (57g) unsalted butter, cold
• 1 large pear, optional, peeled and cored, cut into 1/4-inch slices (I used an Anjou)
• Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
• pure maple syrup, for serving, optional

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F, preferably on convection.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, cornstarch, sugar, and salt.
3. In a medium bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk the eggs, milk, and vanilla until incorporated.
4. Whisk one-third of the wet ingredients into the flour mixture until no lumps remain, then slowly add the remaining wet ingredients, whisking until smooth.
5. Place the butter into a 10-inch cast-iron skillet and put it in the oven to preheat for 3 to 4 minutes, until the butter melts and starts to sizzle in the pan.
6. Using an oven mitt, carefully remove the skillet from the oven. If using pear slices, sauté in the hot butter for 1 minute.
7. Pour the batter in and immediately return the skillet to the oven.
8. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and crisp and the pancake has risen and puffed. (I baked mine for 18 minutes on convection.)
9. Transfer the skillet to a wire rack and sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar.
10. Cut into wedges and serve with maple syrup, if desired.

Vanilla Poached Pears

This is an elegant and light dessert for a special occasion. Years ago, we were served this dish at a neighbor’s dinner party and my husband and I made it quite often for a few years. We loved it. I made this updated version to serve my family on Thanksgiving Eve this year. I thought that it was a perfect dessert for the evening before a day of indulgence. An added bonus was that the pears could be poached ahead of time and stored in the poaching liquid.

This recipe was adapted from Alton Brown via Food Network.com. I poached the pears cut in half rather than whole, and, as my neighbors did when they served this dish, added freshly whipped cream and crushed amaretti cookies as toppings. Lovely.

Yield: 8 servings

• 1 (750-ml) bottle white wine, Riesling or Viognier (I used Pinot Grigio)
• 1 cup water
• 5 ounces granulated sugar, approximately 3/4 cup
• 1 whole vanilla bean, split and scraped
• 5 firm Bartlett, Anjou or Bosc pears, peeled, halved, and cored (preferably using a melon baller)
• freshly whipped heavy cream, for serving
• crushed amaretti cookies, for serving

1. Place the white wine, water, sugar and vanilla bean and pulp into a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. (I used an enameled cast iron pan with a glass lid.)
2. Peel, halve, and core the pears.
3. Decrease the heat to medium low and place the pears into the liquid (cut side up), cover and cook for 20 minutes.
4. Turn the pears cut side down and continue to cook for an additional 15 minutes, or until the pears are tender but not falling apart. Maintain a gentle simmer.
5. Remove the pears to a serving dish and place in the refrigerator.
6. Remove the vanilla bean from the saucepan, increase the heat to high and reduce the syrup to approximately 1 cup of liquid, approximately 20 to 25 minutes. Do not allow the syrup to turn brown.
7. Place the syrup in a heatproof container and place in the refrigerator until cool, approximately 1 hour.
8. Remove the pears from the refrigerator, spoon the sauce over the pears. At this point, the pears can be stored overnight.
9. Place a pear half in a bowl and drizzle with sauce, top with a dollop of freshly whipped cream, and sprinkle with crushed amaretti cookies. Serve.

Pear Snacking Cake with Brown Butter Glaze

This cake was just calling for all of the Bosc pears that I’ve received in my CSA share recently. I love it when I have all of the ingredients readily available to make a special treat. 🙂

As a side note, I don’t really understand the idea of a “snacking” cake. This is definitely a CAKE. The brown butter glaze was absolutely essential and absolutely fabulous. Yes, it was easy to eat and, yes, it’s not a fancy layer cake. I also suppose it would be a wonderful snack! We enjoyed it for dessert. 😉

This recipe was adapted from The New York Times, contributed by Melissa Clark. I incorporated whole wheat pastry flour and decreased the amount of fresh nutmeg. I also omitted the nuts. Delicious!

I’m sharing this special “snack” at Angie’s Fiesta Friday #142 this week, co-hosted by Elaine @foodbod and Michelle @O Blog Off. Enjoy! 🙂

For the Cake:

• 1 cup/227 grams unsalted butter (2 sticks), at room temperature, more to grease the pan
• 1 cup/200 grams granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup/100 grams dark brown sugar
• 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• ⅛ teaspoon ground clove
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 3 to 4 large pears (2 1/4 pounds/1 kilogram), peeled, cored and shredded or finely chopped (to yield 2 1/2 cups) (I finely chopped the prepared pears in a mini-food processor.)
• 2 ¾ cups/350 grams all-purpose flour (I used 175 g all-purpose flour & 175 g whole wheat pastry flour)
• ¾ cup/75 grams rolled oats
• ½ cup toasted walnuts or pecans, chopped, optional

For the Brown Butter Glaze:

• 5 tablespoons/70 grams unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons/25 grams dark brown sugar
• 1 cup/125 grams confectioners’ sugar
• 3 tablespoons/45 milliliters heavy cream or milk, more as needed
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch of coarse salt

1. Prepare the cake: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-2-inch square or 9-inch-round pan and line bottom with parchment paper. (I used cooking oil spray.)
2. Using a stand mixer, beat butter until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Add sugars, baking powder, salt, vanilla, nutmeg, cloves and baking soda and beat for 1 minute.
4. Beat in eggs, one at a time.
5. With the mixer on low, beat in half the pears, and then beat in the flour until smooth.
6. Beat in remaining pears, then the oats, beating until well incorporated.
7. Beat in nuts, if using.
8. Spread batter in the prepared pan and bake until the top springs back when lightly pressed in the center of the cake, 40 to 50 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
9. Prepare the glaze: In a small saucepan, melt butter, then let it simmer until the foam on top falls to the bottom of the pot and turns brown, about 3 minutes. It will smell nutty and rich when it’s ready.
10. Whisk in brown sugar until it dissolves.
11. Whisk in confectioners’ sugar, cream, vanilla and salt until you’ve got a thick glaze with the texture of hot fudge sauce.
12. Spread this over the cooled cake. Let the glaze set for at least 2 hours before serving.

One Year Ago:

• Whole Wheat Gooseberry & Almond Squares
• Whole Wheat Applesauce Muffins with Maple Glaze

Two Years Ago:

• Pumpkin Pie Dump Cake
• Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins

Three Years Ago:

• Buttermilk Cake with Raspberries
• Pumpkin Spice Cake with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting

Four Years Ago:

• Pear-Granola Muffins