The cusp between winter and spring can be a frustrating time for a fruit lover like myself. Fruit imposters litter the supermarket, looking beautiful, but tasting awful. I don't even think about looking at the tomatoes, it's too depressing. Now is the time that I must drown my winter blues in the crumb of a syrupy, warm, gorgeous cake.
My aunt recently brought over her lovely pineapple-upside cake. It looks like a stained glass window, with maraschino cherries and pecans dotting the glistening surface. And while I'll gobble up that cake faster than anything, I wanted to mix it up a little and revamp this fabulously retro cake. So the pineapple was switched with pears, which have an earthiness that suits the cold weather outside perfectly. And instead of melted apricot jam to paint the surface, I made a lemon-thyme syrup, which brings a liveliness to this scrumptious tea cake. One cake is technically enough for 8, but I might make an extra to enjoy with a cold glass of milk after everyone has left.
Ingredients:
2, 8.5 ounce cans of sliced pears
1/3 cup melted butter
1/3 cup golden brown sugar
1/2 cup pear juice, reserved from can
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon double acting baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
For the syrup:
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
3 bunches of fresh thyme
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest
3 bunches of fresh thyme
1/2 cup white sugar
Directions
Pre heat oven to 350 F.
In a small pot, stir together the lemon juice, sugar, and whole bunches of thyme. Heat the mixture on medium for about 10 minutes, until the sugar is dissolves and the liquid is clear. Take off the heat and set aside while you prepare the cake batter.
Spray a 9 inch pie pan with non-stick spray, then pour the melted butter into the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the butter, and press down, to moisten all of the sugar. Separate the pears from the juice, and dry them out on a paper towel. Slice the pear slices in half, and arrange in the pan in whatever pattern you like (i did a sort of pin wheel design).
For the batter, sift the dry ingredients and set aside. Whip the eggs for one minute on high, until light and frothy. Add the sugar slowly, still beating on high until the eggs are very pail and light (4 more minutes). Add the vanilla and pear juice, beating slowly. Add the dry ingredients, also beating on low. Pour the batter evenly over pears in the pan, and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown and pulling away from the edges.
Once baked, immediately flip the cake out onto a platter. Do this by placing the platter over the pan, and flipping gently. Don't immediately remove the pan. Let it rest for a minute or two so it can completely unstick itself.
While the cake is warm, cover the entire cake with the lemon-thyme syrup with a brush. Let the cake sit for 30 minutes, just to let the syrup soak in. Serve alone or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!
:.