Receta Pear Spice Bundt Cake from Martha Stewart
This
past weekend, Andrew finally made it out to the Beach for the weekend. The Real Estate selling season in New York
has made it just about impossible for him to take time here since President’s
Day. To Andrew, a weekend in the country
means a chance to bake. And Saturday he
chose to make a cake that would make a wonderful addition to a Passover Seder
or an Easter Dinner table. I know I'm too late for Passover but this is in time for Easter. Ripe pears
are combined with a set of spices to create a lushly moist, honey and brown-sugar
cake that’s then topped off with two toppings: A cream cheese glaze with a hint
of lemon and pear ‘chips’ that are as pretty as they taste. It’s from “Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook”
(Clarkson Potter), her 2005 ode to all things sweet.
Our 30year old Bundt PanThis
is a Bundt cake, which means it automatically looks flawless with its
well-defined shape molded in the Bundt pan.
The Bundt cake’s heritage can be traced back to a fruit cake called a Gugelhupf which was popular in Jewish
communities in Germany, Austria and Poland. But it is in Northern Germany that Gugelhupf is known by the name “Bundkuchen” – ‘kuchen’ meaning cake and…’Bund’ meaning.... Here lies another one of cooking’s great
debates. Some food historians believe 'Bund' means ‘bunch’ or ‘bundle’ and
refers to the way the dough is ‘bundled’ around the center of the tubed
pan. Others think that the banded look
of the finished cake suggests a bundle of wheat. Finally, there’s a school of thought that
‘Bund’ refers to a group of people and that ‘Bundkuchen’ is so-called because it’s a great party cake for a
sizable gathering of people.
Ella Helfrich
and her prize
winning cakeIn
this country, the credit for popularizing the Bund Cake goes to a pair of
Minnesota brothers, the Dalquists, who owned a cookware enterprise called
“Nordic Ware” and to an entrant in the annual Pillsbury Bake-Off. First the brothers: At the request of two
ladies of the Hadassah in Minneapolis, the Dalquists were asked if they could
produce a modern version of the traditional cast iron Gugelhupf pan. They produced
a cast aluminum version and in order to trademark it added the “T” to the
Bund. The first Bundt cake pans were a
bust in sales. Then, a woman
named Ella Helfrich came in second at the 1966 Pillsbury Bakeoff with her
recipe for a Bundt cake called “Tunnel of Fudge”. Ms. Helfrich walked off with the $5000. Prize. But the real winners were the Dalquist Brothers. There were more than 200,000 requests for
Bundt pans and soon the pan itself surpassed the Jell-O mold as the most sold
pan in the US. Then in the 70s, Pillsbury
licensed the name “Bundt” from Nordic Ware and began selling a whole series of
Bundt Cake mixes.
I
must have been one of the original customers both for the cake mixes and the
Bundt pan. It was quite easy to produce
a photo-worthy cake with minimal effort.
And apparently I was not alone: To date more than 60,000,000 Bundt cake
pans have been sold. There’s even a National Bundt Cake Day, which falls on
November 15th. So while we may be a few months late, this recipe for
Bundt Cake is reason to celebrate this week. As long and complex as the recipe is, Andrew assures me that the steps are simple. There are just quite a few of them. So go ahead, make the cake. Here is the recipe.
Martha Stewart’s Recipe for Pear Spice
Bundt Cake
Makes
one 10-inch cake. Feeds a bund.
- 2 1/2 pounds (about 5) ripe Bartlett pears, peeled, cored, and cut
- into 1 1/2-inch chunks
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for
- pan
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 3/4 cups packed dark-brown sugar
Cream Cheese Glaze, recipe follows.
In a saucepan, spread granulated sugar in an even layer. Cook over
medium-high heat, without stirring, until sugar around edge of pan melts and
begins to turn golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, slowly stir until
all sugar has melted and mixture is translucent and golden.
2.
Add pear chunks to caramel, and stir to coat. Cook, covered, over
low heat until very soft, 6 to 8 minutes, swirling pan occasionally.
3.
Using a
potato masher, mash pears until they are broken down but still slightly chunky.
Continue cooking, uncovered, 5 minutes more, stirring frequently. Remove from
heat; let cool completely.
4.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 10-inch (12-cup
capacity) Bundt pan, tapping out excess. In a medium bowl, sift together flour,
baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, baking soda, pepper, and
nutmeg; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment,
beat butter, brown sugar, and honey on medium-high speed until light and
fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add eggs, one at
a time, beating until combined after each addition. With mixer on the lowest
speed, add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with milk and beginning
and ending with flour.
5.
Add reserved pear sauce and mix to combine, about 1
minute, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Do not overmix.
6.
Spoon batter into prepared pan and smooth with a small offset
spatula. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until cake is a deep golden brown
and a cake tester inserted in center comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes. Transfer
pan to a wire rack to cool slightly.
7.
Invert cake onto a wire rack set over a
piece of parchment paper and allow to cool 10 minutes. Once cool, pour the
glaze over the top, letting some drip down the sides. Alternatively, dust with
confectioners' sugar. Garnish with pear chips, if using.
While the cake is baking, make the Pear Chips:
1 small underripe Bartlett pear
1.
Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with
parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat (such as a Silpat); set aside.
2.
In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine sugar with 1 cup
water. Bring to a boil; cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar has dissolved,
about 8 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low; keep at a simmer as you proceed.
3.
Using a mandoline or a very sharp knife, slice pear lengthwise as
thinly as possible; make sure that each slice remains intact and is uniformly
thick. Do not worry about removing seeds or the core (they soften during
baking). Squeeze lemon halves over pear slices, coating both sides with juice.
4.
Place slices in simmering syrup; cook 2 minutes.
5.
Remove slices with a slotted
spoon and place on the prepared baking sheet about 1 inch apart.
6.
Bake pear slices until they are dry to the touch, about 2 hours.
Using a small offset spatula, loosen edges of slices; use your hands to peel
pears from the sheet, then flip them over. Return pears to oven; bake, checking
frequently, until chips are completely dry and crisp (but not browned), about
20 minutes.
To make the Cream Cheese
Glaze:
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 tablespoons milk, plus more if needed
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment,
beat cream cheese on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 4 to 5 minutes,
scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add sugar and beat until combined, about
1 minute. Add salt, lemon juice, and milk; mix on low speed until smooth. If
glaze is too thick to drizzle, add more milk, 1 tablespoon at a time.
Finally, pour glaze over cake. Garnish with Pear Chips. Serve and take a bow.