“That white frost on that pound cake” – Pusha T

 

Round two of clearing things up before I post. First off, my lens broke on a plane a few weeks ago. I haven’t had a chance to get a new one yet, so my pictures may have some blur and glare in them. Second, I’m colorblind. It was recently pointed out to me, though the posts have been viewed hundreds of times!, that my pictures are slightly-to-not-so-slightly green. I will be having them reviewed by my girl, who isn’t lacking the right cones. Number three is that I have admittedly been really inconsistent when it comes to posting on here, that should be changing now that my school and work schedule is much less time consuming. The fourth and final thing is that I probably won’t be posting anything with meat or fish in the near future. My brain has become vegetarian without consulting my stomach about my now lost love of italian sausage and smash burgers.  Anyway, here’s a recipe.

 

Notes

  • Use pears that are about two days before ripe.
  • I sous vide the pears so I am going to try to adjust the recipe to include a way to poach in a pot. Life is easier with a sous vide, get one.
  • The icing for the cake is and should be completely optional. The cake itself is sweet, the pears are sweeter, and the icing tops it off.

 

 

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Poached Pears

five bosc pears

juice of two naval oranges

three tablespoons of dark brown sugar

two teaspoons of cloves

one teaspoon of vanilla

one teaspoon of nutmeg

if sous vide: two cups of water

if pot poaching: enough water to cover the pears

If sous viding set the temperature to one-hundred-and-seventy-six. If using a pot, bring water to a simmer.

Leaving the pears whole and the tops on, peel the pears and flatten out the bottom.

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. If sous vide, split the ingredients and water in half, pour each half in a bag, add two or three pears to each bag and seal. For those using a pot, pour ingredients into the pot.

Sous vide or pot poaching the pears for about twenty minutes. Pot poachers should rotate the pears every five minutes. Remove from the bag or pot, and set aside on a plate to cool.  Save poaching liquid.

 

Poached Icing

three tablespoons of poaching liquid

six to eight tablespoons of confectioners sugar

Whisk together until smooth. Add more sugar to taste.

 

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Cardamom Cake

three cups of all purpose flour

two cups of sugar

half a cup of brown sugar

one and a half teaspoons of salt

one and a half teaspoons of baking powder

eight pods of cardamom, ground, about half a teaspoon

one teaspoon of nutmeg

half a teaspoon of cloves

one and a half cups of whole milk

one cup of olive oil

three eggs

zest of two whole oranges

two teaspoons of vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to three hundred and fifty degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients. In a separate bowl mix together wet ingredients and orange zest.

In the dry bowl make a well. Slowly pour in the wet ingredients. Whisk together until fully combined. Make sure to scrape down the walls of the bowl to get all the flour.

Using a cooking spray, heavily oil down a cake pan and flour it.

Pour cake mixture into the pan. Add the pears, they may not stand up perfectly, or at all, just try to get the tops sticking out as best you can.

Bake the cake for fifty to sixty minutes. Test at the end using a wooden skewer. It should come out clean or with just a few crumbs and crumbs should be moist.

Remove pan from the oven. Allow cake to cool in the pan for thirty minutes. Use a knife alone the walls of the pan to separate the cake. Lift the bottom of the cake pan out of the walls, allow the cake to cool on a rack for another ten to fifteen minutes. If icing the cake, do it now.

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Slice, serve, and eat. There won’t be any to save.

 

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