Monday, August 16, 2010

Golden Pear and Thyme Cake

Golden delicious pear and thyme.    Both  have a  nice light fragrant.  This is the third pear recipe this month! I bought these from the market, I guess that they must be in season now, as I seldom see this variety.  It is very  sweet and delicious.  The pairing of this pear with thymes is wonderful.  The cake turns out to be very moist and soft.  This recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of thyme leaves, but I think that adding a little bit more, maybe half a tablespoon more, would give a slightly more stronger fragrance of the thymes, which I find that the original amount is not enough in terms of flavour and smell, as thymes has a lighter fragrant and taste unlike other herbs which can be very strong.






Overall, this is a really nice cake to bake, it is so soft and moist.  If you have some extra pears around, and some  thymes in your garden, try making this lovely cake, it is great with a cup of hot tea.  I'm bringing this to Potluck Sunday at Mommy's Kitchen.



Golden Pear and Thyme Cake
(adapted from "brownies  &  bars" by Liz Franklin)
Makes 15
Preparation time : 1 hour and 20 minutes
You will need a lightly buttered, deep roasting pan or cake tin measuring 20 x 30 cm/8 x 12 inches

280 gm/10 oz butter
280 gm/10 oz caster sugar
4 firm, but ripe pears, peeled, cored and diced
4 eggs
250 gm/9 oz self-raising flour, sifted
1 tablespoon thyme leaves
1 tablespoon caster sugar, for sprinkling

Set the oven to180C/350F/gas mark 4.
Heat 30 gm/1 oz of butter and 30 gm/1 oz of the sugar together in a pan, until the sugar has dissolved.  Add the diced pear and cook for about 5 minutes, until the pear is golden and caramelised.  Leave to cool slightly.
Cream the remaining butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs, a little at a time, stirring in between each addition, until the mixture is smooth and all the eggs are incorporated.
Add the flour, and then stir in the cooled pears with any buttery juices, and the thyme.  Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 40 minutes, or until the cake is golden and springy.  Allow the cake to cool in the tin, scatter with the extra caster sugar, and then cut into squares.  Store in an airtight container.

(my notes :  I use only 160gm of sugar for the cake and 30gm for the pears)

14 comments:

  1. Yum- this pear cake looks delicious! I do have some thyme in my garden and will have to try this!

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  2. What a refreshing idea! I can't wait to try the combination. Do you think the dried thyme work well for the recipe too?

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  3. I love the addition of the thyme. I already have one of my pear recipes in mind that I will be using together with the thyme. Thanks for sharing.

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  4. Nice cake with wonderful flavors..

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  5. Pear & thyme...so unique! The cake pun nampak sedap lah!!!

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  6. This sounds like a great cake with its unique combo of ingredients. Very nice!

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  7. What a lovely combination! I love using herbs in my baking. I think it's a nice touch!

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  8. Your cake looks like an absolutely delightful treat. Served up with a cup of coffee and this would be perfect. Thanks for sharing.

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  9. Hi scrambledhenfruit,
    Yes, do try out this cake. It is really moist and soft.

    Hi Angie,
    I guess that the dried thyme should work as well, but I think that the amount of dried thyme should be the same at 1 tablespoon or a little less than that. Let me know if you do try this out!

    Hi My Kitchen in the Rockies,
    Great! Keep us posted. It will be nice to know this combination for another recipe.

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  10. Hi Vrinda,
    Thank you.

    Hi petite nyonya,
    Given some to "ta-chi no.2" and some cookies to TKK!

    Hi Pam,
    Thank you!

    Hi Reeni,
    Yes, herbs are truly wonderful!

    Hi Velva,
    Thank you!

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  11. What a fantastic flavor combination for a cake. I absolutely love it :)

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  12. You have such amazing treats!! I've never had pear before! It looks amazing, keep it up!!

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  13. Love the pears cake. Nice to be here. Great space. Best wishes.

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  14. Hi Magic of Spice,
    Thank you!

    Hi Sweatha Sanjana,
    Thank you for dropping by!

    Hi Rice Palette,
    Thank you!

    Hi Sanjeeta kk,
    Thank you for visiting! Hope that you will drop by again. Have a nice day.

    ReplyDelete