Receta Upside Down Pear Crunch Coffee Cake for #TwelveLoaves
So if this is a bread group, what the heck am I doing posting a coffee cake? Well…I might sorta be the kind that likes to push the envelope anyhow…but if Joy of Baking considers coffee cake to be a quick bread, well then I see no reason why I can’t as well, right?
I’ll be honest, when my #TwelveLoaves cohort Lora and I first discussed this bread group, I was worried it would be too limiting for me. Lora is a bread baker extraordinaire and I just don’t make yeast breads that often. So…we did some discovery to see exactly what the ‘experts’ might consider bread to be. Well, those experts are VERY considerate!
In addition to the Joy of Baking website, The items on this document from the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture consider a lot of our everyday baked goods as quick breads – those breads that do not require yeast. The list is long and varied and includes muffins, coffeecakes, scones, waffles, and pancakes. Coffeecakes? Who knew? Although quick and yeast breads are typically categorized because of the leavening agents, all quick breads are just that: breads that can be made in a short period of time and with very little effort.
Apples or Pears…you choose!
OK, that worked better for me. Although I love making a loaf of yeast bread (especially focaccia and challah) I have limited time to be paying attention to rising so you’ll most often see something quicker on this site! For this month we thought it appropriate to have our theme incorporate the best of seasonal fruits and what could be more abundant than apples and pears. So, make your yeast or quick bread (or coffeecake or waffles or…well, you get my drift right?) and incorporate either one or both of those fabulous fruits.
I was recently asked if I would like to use this recipe from Elizabeth Faulkner who some of you may know from the Food Network. She has a new restaurant, Krescendo, opening in Brooklyn, has appeared in several culinary competitions and is the author of ‘Cooking Off the Clock: Recipes From My Downtime‘ published just last month by Ten Speed Press.
Elizabeth has partnered with gourmet gift retailer Harry & David for a Seasonal Chef Program. She created three seasonally-inspired recipes including this Upside Pear Crunch Coffee Cake, an easy-at-home recipe which is a fabulous breakfast treat for next Sunday or for your holiday dessert table. I recently received a gorgeous basket of fruit from Harry and David and can attest to the quality of their pears…they are the BEST!
While we struggled a bit deciding how to place the pear slices ‘just right’ it didn’t really seem to matter. What I loved? My daughter and her friend were here and they not only went on and on about the fabulous scent that enveloped them when they walked inside the foyer but were even more taken with the final result. It was simple and stunning. And guess what else? Quick! Really nothing difficult at all but something magical happens at times with a combination of ingredients and this bread is the perfect example. A moist and rich cake (oops, I mean bread) with pears and a brown sugar and butter topping. Umm, umm good!
Upside Pear Crunch Coffee Cake
An upside down pear coffee cake with a brown sugar and cinnamon topping.
Ingredients
For the Crunch:
- 1 ½ C. demerara sugar or brown sugar
- 1 t. ground cinnamon
- ¼ t. ground nutmeg
- ½ t. salt
- 1 TB. flour
- 2 TB. butter
- For the Coffee Cake:
- 2. large Pears, cored and sliced into 1/2 " slices with skin on
- 4 oz. unsalted butter
- 1 C. sugar
- 2 ea. large eggs
- 1 C. sour cream
- ¼ C. milk
- 1 t. vanilla extract
- 1 ½ C. flour
- 1 ½ t. baking powder
- ½ t. baking soda
- 1 t. salt
Preparation
To Make the Topping:
Work all ingredients together with a food processor, spatula or your fingers and set aside.
To Make the Coffee Cake:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees convection. (Without a convection oven, baking will take longer).
Cream the butter and sugar together with a spatula or in a mixer with paddle attachment.
Add the eggs and combine to mix thoroughly.
Add the sour cream, milk and vanilla extract and mix into butter and egg mixture thoroughly.
Add dry ingredients just to combine.
To Assemble:
Spray the inside of two loaf pans with vegetable oil or rub lightly with butter.
Sprinkle half of the topping mixture divided between 2 loaf pans. Divide the pear slices lined down each loaf pan on top of the Crunch layer. Divide Coffee Cake batter over the pears in each pan. Finally, divide the rest of the Crunch over the batter in each pan. Bake for 30 minutes until cake is set.
To Serve:
Cool completely, this takes awhile, be patient. Then invert cake upside when cool, slice and serve.
Notes
The recipe I received called for 30 minutes using a convection oven. I'm lucky to have one and because I'm at altitude I increased my temp to 350 degrees. We had to bake this coffee cake for an additional 20 minutes at least so I've indicated a bit longer baking time but please be sure to test with a toothpick; it should come out clean after inserting into the center of the cake.
2.0
http://www.creative-culinary.com/2012/11/upside-down-pear-crunch-coffee-cake/
This recipe brought to you by © Creative Culinary | A Food and Cocktail Blog | Website: www.creative-culinary.com
We would love to have you join our #TwelveLoaves group; it’s easy!
Make sure that your Bread this month is inspired by this month’s theme of apples and pears; this is obligatory if you would like your link to be included!
Have your #TwelveLoaves bread that you baked during November, 2012 posted on your blog by November 30, 2012.
When you post your #TwelveLoaves bread on your blog, make sure that you mention the #TwelveLoaves challenge in your post and include links to the leaders: Cake Duchess and Creative Culinary.
Make sure you include a link to the bread that you bake this month using the link tool at the bottom of this post.
Feel free to promote the Twelve Loaves group by proudly displaying the Twelve Loaves badge in your Twelve Loaves post as well as in your sidebar!
Not mandatory but you can follow @TwelveLoaves and/or #TwelveLoaves or chat with your hostesses on Twitter: Barb @CreativCulinary or Lora @cakeduchess
So, if you are wondering, ‘What happened to Jamie?’ never fear, Jamie is immersed in moving which means, well, it just means she is missing this month but not gone forever! We’re hoping she is back next month with a post from her NEW kitchen! We miss you booboo.
More?
A copy of Elizabeth Faulkner’s book ’Cooking Off the Clock: Recipes From My Downtime‘ will be made available to one of my lucky readers. Here’s how you can enter:
Simply leave a comment; tell me what’s your favorite “quick” bread? Or are you more of a yeast bread baker?
Only open to residents of the US.
Must be 18 years of age to enter.
If I could ask a favor of you?
Jenn with the food blog Jenn Cuisine and I put together a blogging initiative hoping to help in some small way the folks who have been devastated by Hurricane Sandy. We’re asking food bloggers to post a comfort food dish this coming Thursday, Nov 8th and include links to some of the larger organizations helping with the relief effort, asking your readers to donate if they can. If you would like to join us, please visit my post about this effort. We would love to have you join us this Thursday but we are keeping the link tool open all month and will be tweeting everyone’s post as well to share your support; please use the hashtag #FBS4Sandy. Thank you.