I adapted this recipe from one I found on juliasalbum.com and it originally called for peaches. However, peaches are a stone fruit that aren’t in season until this summer. I substituted pears for peaches and it turned out wonderfully! The blueberry and pear worked great as complementary flavors, with the sugar and honey adding a subtle something extra. The cake itself was not very sweet, which went well with the fruit flavoring. This recipe yielded an impressive presentation for a minimal amount of effort and got rave reviews at the dinner party I brought it to. Try switching up the fruit to make your own unique and winning combination!

Ingredients

• 1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 stick butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
• 3 pears, sliced into wedges
• 6 oz blueberries
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar

Instructions

1. Precook the pears by peeling, segmenting into wedges (I cut them into eighths), and then sauteeing over medium high heat in butter and brown sugar (approx. 2 tablespoons of each). I sauteed the pears in the butter for approx. 2 minutes before adding the brown sugar. I then allowed the pears to cook for an additional 8 minutes (until they were soft enough to bite into but not completely cooked).
2. Spread pears onto shallow pan to allow them to cool while you mix the cake ingredients.
3. Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Grease the side and the bottom of the pan with butter or cooking spray. Line the bottom of a 9×3-inch springform pan (or 9 inch round cake pan) with parchment paper. Grease the parchment paper too.
4. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, together into a medium bowl.
5. In a separate bowl, beat butter, sugar, and 2 eggs until very light in color and fluffy, 2-3 minutes on high speed. Add vanilla and Greek yogurt and continue beating until very creamy and light in color, for about 1 more minute.
6. Keeping the mixer speed low, mix in the flour mix until combined. Do not overmix.
7. Transfer the cake batter to the springform pan. Top with sliced pears, and scatter blueberries evenly on top in the spaces between the pear slices. Sprinkle the fruit with 1 teaspoon granulated sugar.
8. Bake until cake turns golden, and the tester comes out clean in the center, about 1 hour, depending on your oven.
9. When the cake is done baking, let it cool (still in the baking pan) on a wire rack. After cake has cooled for about 40 minutes, release the cake from the springform pan. At this point, if the cake is cool enough, you can slide your hand under the cake, between the parchment paper and the bottom portion of the springform pan and move the cake with the parchment paper attached to its bottom onto a cake plate easily.
10. If using a 9 inch round cake pan, cook in pan for about 40 minutes or more (up to 1 hour, depending on your oven), then invert onto a plate.
11. After cake has cooled and just before serving, dust some powdered sugar on top and drizzle with honey.

I recommend cooking the cake for approximately 40 minutes. I prefer my cakes dense and moist, and cannot stand when they come out dry! Happy baking. 🙂

xoxo

Sarah