Last week our powerhouse duo that fuel our online presence mentioned that the 13th of May is one of two days when the Americans honour their National favourite dessert – Apple Pie. Imagine, two days dedicated to the celebration of one dish. These guys must really love Apple Pie. I mean, if you search the www you’ll find countless recipes for Apple Pie and so many movies with reference or scenes about Apple Pie. There’s even an anecdote about Teddy Roosevelt being served Apple Pie while travelling in Africa.
I must say that i really like a good piece of warm apple pie with a serving of vanilla ice cream or fresh cream, but my family can’t stand the texture of cooked apples, so it’s rare that I bake it.
When on Monday Sofia suggested that we do a blogpost on Apple Pie, I jumped at the idea of baking one. But I forgot to buy apples and sitting in our very large fruit bowl were a whole lot of pears.
A friend had recently shared a French Pear cake recipe on my Lockdown – “Sister’s Survival” Whatsapp Group and this sparked a whole lot of recipe sharing, so I decided to bake a French Pear Cake instead and what a success that was!
It was more pears than cake and I added some flaked coconut to the very few almonds that I had available to give more crunch to the crackly, sugar dusted topping that gave this cake an added bit of deliciousness. We enjoyed it slightly warm with a dollop of Creme Fraiche.
This was literally a case of making lemonade when life throws you lemons.
Ingredients
For the Batter
1/2 Unsalted Butter at room temperature
2 Large Free Range eggs at room temperature
1 1/3 cups flower
1 heaped tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
a touch of Vanilla
1/2 sour cream or thick Greek yoghurt – I used yoghurt
For the Filling
3 Pears – ripe but still firm. Peeled or unpeeled
For the Topping
1/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup flaked almonds optional
For serving:
Crème Fraîche or whipped cream or ice cream
Instructions
My family loved this cake and I sure ill be making it again very soon! 😉