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May 1, 2020 10:03 AM

I’d like to bake something with these pears I got. Any recs for a good pear cake or something?

I have 5 Bartlett pears. Also AP flour, almond flour, wheat flour, powder sugar, regular sugar, butter, eggs. Maybe some nuts somewhere. No cake pans but a springform I use for cheesecake. Loaf pan. Pie glass. Muffin tins.

I’m dreaming of a moist cake with a nice crust and juicy pears. Or something else decadent. I can’t seem to find a good recipe online, just keep finding rando blogs.

posted by inevitability to Food & Drink (16 answers total)

This recipe worked out very well for me, although I did add cinamon and mixed spice. Meant for plums but could work with pears?
posted by stillnocturnal at 10:07 AM on May 1, 2020 [1 favorite]

You want "galley girl pear cake" from old school Chowhound.

It will be so juicy, esp if, as the recipe suggest, you can leave it alone until the day after you bake it.

Enjoy.
posted by CiaoMela at 10:09 AM on May 1, 2020

Best answer: Reading your description I immediately thought of an upside-down cake. Maybe this Honey-Glazed Pear Upside-Down Cake from the NY Times?
posted by Mender at 10:12 AM on May 1, 2020 [5 favorites]

I made this pear cake recently - it will use 2-3 of your pears. Almost more like blondies; it’s quite dense. But we liked it.
posted by lakeroon at 10:13 AM on May 1, 2020 [1 favorite]

2nding the recommendation of an upside-down cake. Or I guess 3rding, since that Galley girl cake is also an upside down cake. BUT - For pears, it adds SO MUCH depth and flavor if you use a gingerbread cake instead of plain white. My favorite is to use SmittenKitchen Gramercy Tavern Gingerbread as the cake and just follow what you would normally do for a pineapple upside down cake. This requires that you be a little bit adventurous in the kitchen to be able to judge if there is too much batter or not enough filling, etc. It also requires that you have stout or dark beer, and we're in the world of Not Easy to Acquire Sometimes.

SmittenKitchen has another gingerbread upside-down using apples but I haven't made that.
posted by CathyG at 11:01 AM on May 1, 2020 [2 favorites]

Clafouti's are usually made with cherries but any soft fruit is really good. And they're easy to make. I love them made with pears. They're like a cross between a custard, a pancake and a pie. Here's a Julia Child recipe.
posted by tmdonahue at 11:21 AM on May 1, 2020 [3 favorites]

To answer your title, not your question - I’ve given up on general internet search for recipes because there are so many incompetent imitation cooking sites. The NYT and the Guardian have reliable tho fancy recipes; Smitten Kitchen and Serious Eats usually have something in my hassle-to-tasty zone, and the former’s seasonal organization is helpful.

One advantage of cooking a lot of recipes from one author is that they should have related techniques, so by working your way through a body of them you will become fluent in that style which makes it !much! easier to improvise.
posted by clew at 12:20 PM on May 1, 2020 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: @clew— hah, thanks! I started writing that question, which stemmed from me not being able to find a good reliable pear recipe... but I prioritized asking for the recipe first. Hah.

@Mender— I can’t seem to access that NYTimes recipe. But something like that sounds perfect and yummy.
posted by inevitability at 12:35 PM on May 1, 2020

I agree very much with clew above, but for sweets, I'd like to add David Lebovitz. His recipes are both elegant and easy enough to make for a home cook.
posted by mumimor at 12:37 PM on May 1, 2020 [2 favorites]

Ah, sorry! It's a Melissa Clark recipe if you want to search for it elsewhere, I see a version here which lacks the mouth-watering picture but contains the necessary information.
posted by Mender at 12:50 PM on May 1, 2020

Maybe what you want is some warm, freshly-baked scones with sliced pears sprinkled with freshly-grated nutmeg on the side.
posted by amtho at 1:00 PM on May 1, 2020

Mastering the art of French Cooking has them:

Baked with Macaroons
Flan
Poached in Red Wine
Tart,
With Almond Filling
With Custard Filling

Several of these are variations on apple recipes. Maybe they’re online, or I’ll type one in if you want.
posted by clew at 2:36 PM on May 1, 2020 [1 favorite]

You cannot go wrong with a David Lebovitz recipe. Here are some of his pear options:
- French Pear and Almond Tart Recipe
- Red Wine Poached Pear Tart
- How to Poach Pears

I have made all three of these, some multiple times, and they are all delicious. In general, his recipes are exquisitely constructed -- they turn out just right every time.
posted by ourobouros at 3:09 PM on May 1, 2020 [4 favorites]

I have substituted pears for apples in recipes many times, so if you have a favorite apple cake that might be something to try. Firmer pears work better in almost every recipe, as very ripe pears tend to fall apart. Also, you may find it improves the texture to peel them, which also works better with firmer fruit.

Pears and almonds are naturally wonderful together, so using at least some almond flour and perhaps scattering slivered almonds on top would be delicious.
posted by citygirl at 3:55 PM on May 1, 2020

I'm no baker, but I can bake up a reasonable simple Pear Crumble using most of the ingredients mentioned in your list; pears finely diced, add lots of crushed granola, some cinnamon & nutmeg, and everything else more or less: it's a crumble, not a moist cake, but it's very edible. I don't use eggs, but you could. (I'd substitute brown sugar for sugar, & maybe a pancake mix for flour). Don't skimp on the butter (or margarine) & smear the pan with it.
posted by ovvl at 5:04 PM on May 1, 2020

Response by poster: Happy conclusion: made the honey glazed upside down cake and it was just perfectly what I wanted- crispy almond cake crust and juicy pears on top.

Will try some other recipes soon, thanks all!
posted by inevitability at 6:52 PM on May 1, 2020 [3 favorites]