Ginger and Spice Pear Cake

Last week it was quite cold here in Prague. I met up with a friend of mine after not seeing each other for a very long time and to hide from the cold weather, we popped in a café of sorts where I ordered a hot pear juice with cloves. It was so good that I wondered if I could make something like that but in a cake.

Turns out I can. I found this one recipe and changed more to my liking. The original called for some ingredients I had to substitute (which gave me an idea for another post). It also looked like a pie-cake hybrid... The way my cake turned out was almost traditional cake. The high amount of liquids in it give the cake a very soft and moist texture and the spices complement each other phenomenally. I just wish it looked a bit better because I'm afraid its looks won't attract any attention.

Also this recipe marks the very first time I made a video recipe. There is a Boardgames & Baking Youtube channel and the first video is me making this cake. I don't know how well and how far this will go but I found out that making videos is easier than I had thought.

Ginger and Spice Pear Cake
for the cake you will need:

• 300g all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves
• a pinch of salt
• 175ml vegetable oil
• 110g light brown sugar
• 100ml honey (about 7 tablespoons)
• 100ml plain yoghurt or sour cream
• 1 tablespoon of freshly grated ginger
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 100ml strong hot coffee

for the topping you will need:

• 2 pears
• 15g butter, melted
• 20g light brown sugar
• cinnamon
• a pinch of salt
• whipped cream (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 160° Celsius, adjust the rack to the lower position and butter/oil a 25cm quiche dish 
2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, ground ginger, allspice, cloves and salt until well combined.
3. In a different bowl whisk the oil, sugar, honey, yoghurt, ginger and the egg until smooth. Mix the baking soda with the coffee until dissolved and set aside.
4. Stir a half of the flour mixutre into the liquids, add the coffee with soda and stir well until combined. Then add the rest of the flour and stir thoroughly again. Pour the batter into the quiche dish.
5. Cut the pears into about 1 cm thick long slices and arrange them onto the batter in a circle. Brush the edges of the pears on the outer circle with melted butter and sprinkle the pears evenly with the brown sugar, cinnamon and salt combined.
6. Bake for about an hour (yes, it takes time) - until the toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Let cool a bit but serve still warm. With a healthy dose of whipped cream on top :)