- Hey guys, so I feel like this time of year,
apples get all the attention, which is kind of funny
because pears are also in season, but they're kinda like
the unsung hero of the produce aisle.
So today, I wanted to share a recipe
that celebrates the pear in all of its glory.
It's for my pear spice cake, which is a rich
and flavorful cake topped with ripe pears
and toasted oatmeal.
It's a great little treat to serve for a fall brunch,
or you can make one on Sunday and have it
to last throughout the week.
And the best part about this recipe is I bet you have
all the ingredients sitting in your pantry.
Let me show you how to make it.
So in a large mixing bowl, you're going
to add three-quarters cup of melted butter,
a third of a cup of vegetable oil,
three-quarters cup of brown sugar.
This is gonna give it a really nice, rich flavor.
But if you didn't have brown sugar on hand,
you also could use white sugar.
Three eggs,
a third of a cup of water,
and one-and-a-half teaspoons of vanilla extract.
And you can whisk that all together until everything
is combined, and then you can set that aside.
And then in a medium-sized bowl, we're going
to add one-and-three-quarters cup of all-purpose flour,
one-and-a-half teaspoons of baking soda,
and a half a teaspoon of salt.
And then we're also going
to add four different types of spices.
And this time of year, these are the spices
that I load up on because they're the kinds of spices
that will take you all through Thanksgiving and Christmas.
If you have these four spices on hand, you cannot go wrong.
You can make most holiday recipes.
And they are a teaspoon of ground cinnamon,
a quarter-teaspoon of ground ginger,
a quarter-teaspoon of ground nutmeg,
and an eighth of a teaspoon of ground cloves.
And then you can mix that all together
until that's combined.
And then you're slowly gonna add the flour mixture
to your wet ingredients, just in thirds, whisking
until everything is incorporated.
Then, we are gonna pour this batter
into our prepared loaf pan that has just been sprayed
with some baking spray.
And anytime I am pouring something into a loaf pan,
I think the easiest way to do it is to pick up the bowl
and just pour it towards you, right in the center,
and let gravity do its work.
And once you get to the end, just take a spatula
and scrape the bowl.
It's just a little easier that way than trying
to come at it from different angles.
Then next, we're gonna top our batter with some pears.
So this time of year, there are so many varieties of pears,
and the good news is, you really can use any kind you like.
I'm working with a Bartlett pear.
The only thing is, is make sure your pears are nice and ripe
because then they'll be nice and tender
once they bake in the bread.
And I think the easiest way to cut a pear
is just to cut off all of its hips,
so just go around the side and slice until
you have a little square core left.
Then, you're gonna take the cut pear.
Just put it down on your board and slice it,
about quarter-of-an-inch slices will do the trick.
Then, you're going to take two pears at a time,
and place them on top of the batter.
Just press them in a little bit
so they can stand up on their own.
And I like to do this in overlapping fashion
all the way down the bread.
And this will ensure when you slice into your bread
that every slice has one or two pears.
Then, at this stage, I also like
to add a tablespoon of old-fashioned oatmeal.
It adds a nice decorative flourish on top.
It also gets nice and toasty in the oven,
and adds a nice texture.
Then, we are going to bake this at 350 degrees Fahrenheit
for anywhere from 40 to 45 minutes.
So it's a long amount of time because these loaf pans
are so deep, and you'll also find it takes a bit of time
for the bread to be baked in between the pears.
So do take either a knife or a toothpick
and just double-check at that 40-minute mark
that it is fully baked inside.
And then, if I'm serving this for a brunch,
I also just like to give it a little dusting
with some powdered sugar.
And you will see you will have
one beautiful fall baked good.
It's just the perfect little breakfast bread
to enjoy either with a cup of tea or a cup of coffee
before you head off to work or school.
Now, if you really have your heart set
on something made with apples, you also can try
the distant cousin of this bread, my apple spice cake.
You can click that annotation, and I'll see you over there,
and I'll show you how to make that one.