Asian Pear Cake

If you want to know the taste of a pear, you must change the pear by eating it yourself. If you want to know the theory and methods of revolution, you must take part in revolution. All genuine knowledge originates in direct experience.

~ Mao Tse-Tung (December 26, 1893 - September 09, 1976)

 Asian pears

Something very quick and delicious ! The recipe is from a recipe website called http://www.grouprecipes.com from someone named "My Husband Cooks " 

I did change some of the procedure from the original recipe.  I did not like adding the oil after the dry ingredients, but i went for it to see what it would do. Normally i would mix the oil in after the eggs and sugar. 

Asian Pear Cake

Ingredients

• 3 Asian pears 
• 2 oranges 
• 2 1/4 cups white sugar 
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup canola oil 
• 4 large eggs 
• 1 tbsp. baking powder 
• 2 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. salt 
• 2 tsp. cinnamon 
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg 
• 1/2 tsp. ground cloves 
• 1/2 tsp. all spice powder
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger

Procedure

---

• Preheat your oven to 350F.
• Peal and core Asian pears. Slice.  What you’re looking for are simple slices, just as you would slice an apple. Set aside.
• In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat the eggs and sugar until they are light and fluffy. Pale yellow.
• Add to the mix the juice of two oranges and the zest from one, vanilla  and whisk lightly.
• Now add the flour, spice mix, baking powder, and salt and mix completely.
• Once those ingredients are incorporated, slowly add the oil as you mix the batter. The result will be rather thick, sticky, and perfect for what is next. I thought this strange..but ??
• Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan.
• Now begin to layer your cake. Take about a third of the batter mixture and lay down a nice coating on the bottom of the pan. This will actually be your top, so you want to make sure you’ve made a thick layer all the way around the base of the pan.
• Lay pear slices on top of your batter layer. Add another layer of batter and another layer of pear slices. You should get between 2-3 layers of pears. The final layer should be batter.
• Place your pan in the oven and bake for approximately 90 min. To check for doneness, insert a toothpick in the middle and remove it. It should come out clean when the cake is done.
• Remove finished cake from the oven and leave it in its pan for at least 30 min. on a rack or other tray. Once sufficiently cool, you can turn it out onto a plate or simply leave it in its pan and cut slices from it. In either case, be sure to work slowly. The cake has a dense construction and those pears don’t help, so it will be more delicate then a Bundt cake or the like.
• Sprinkle slices with confectioners sugar.

The result---A moist very spicy cake . ( I love strong flavors)  The outside of the cake is very "crusty", when complete. It was difficult to test  in the oven because you had to break thru the crust to test !  I had a small area of cake that collapsed when i tested too early. :( So be patient.


The orange and Asian pear flavors compliment each other beautifully. Inspired me to mix them in another recipe :)

Notes: Variations:  You could make this cake with pears, apple, peaches or plums. Dried fruit, and nuts.

どうぞめしあがれ !!!
 (douzo meshiagare) = 'enjoy your meal' - said by the cook/chef