the fresh, soft pear cake with the anise, cardamom, & cinnamon-spiced syrup will create the perfect balance for your Monday morning!
(serves 8 & takes 1 hour)
ingredients
cake
⅔ cup sugar
⅔ cup butter, room temperature
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp of baking powder
2 eggs
⅔ cup + 3 tbsp of milk
2 pears, peeled & diced
syrup
3 cups water
1⅓ cup sugar
2 sticks of cinnamon
4 cardamom pods
2 star anise
1 orange peel
2 orange slices
4 pears, peeled
procedure
1. preheat oven to 350ºF. grease & flour a round cake pan.
2. in a bowl, beat sugar & butter. sift in dry ingredients, & add eggs & milk.
3. fold in pear, pour into pan, & bake 45 minutes. let cool & remove from pan.
4. meanwhile, in a medium pan over medium-high heat, bring syrup ingredients (except for pears) to boil. add pears & cook until tender. remove pears from syrup & let cool.
5. thirty minutes before serving, return syrup to pan & simmer to reduce mixture to a thick syrup. serve cake with soft pears & syrup.