Spiced Pear Gingerbread
There is a new cookbook on my shelf, a recent arrival from the Berkshire kitchen of my friend, Alana. Actually, it hasn’t rested on the bookshelf yet; I’ve been keeping it with me in the kitchen for daily cooking, baking and tea-time reading.
The Homemade Kitchen: Recipes for Cooking with Pleasure
is the second cookbook from Alana, and a long awaited companion to The Homemade Pantry. It’s a personal and passionate ode to home cooking without an ounce of pressure. Alana encourages aspiring cooks with memorable lessons such as Do Your Best and Then Let Go, Be a Beginner, and Do the Work. In fact, these guiding principles form the outline of her book, and she explains and expands on them in thoughtful essays that undoubtedly come from a place of learning.
I’ve been cooking plenty from The Homemade Kitchen already, so read on for more thoughts on the cookbook and a splendid giveaway, too.
There is a warmth in Alana’s cookbook that I recognized right away. It is the same generosity of spirit and open-armed welcome that I received last February when we dropped in to her home on my book tour. Having sipped Chemex coffee and devoured breakfast burritos in the same kitchen the book is named after, I can honestly say that The Homemade Kitchen is a truthful portrayal of the real thing.
Soup was the first dish I was inspired to make. Minestrone, to be exact, a recipe tucked into the back of a chapter titled ‘Use Your Scraps’ – a worthy cause that is close to my heart. And so I did just that, opening the fridge and turning odd bits of vegetables, leftover beans and some tired kale into a bowl of comfort food.
To keep everyone happy (although my crew adores a vegetable-filled bowl like the one above) I slid a batch of Alana’s Popovers into the oven 25 minutes before dinner. At my beckoning, the three little ones skidded into the kitchen and parked in front of the glass door of the oven to watch them puff. They rose to impressive heights, and stayed that way until we devoured them with our Minestrone.
It was a perfect October weeknight supper.
Spiced Pear Gingerbread
Alana introduced me to the term ‘snacking cake’, although I can’t remember exactly when. She has long professed a soft spot for tea and cake and really, what are October afternoons for if not for nibbling on cake while watching the leaves fall?
I debated long and hard between The Homemade Kitchen‘s seasonally appropriate Pear Gingerbread and the tempting Rhubarb Snacking Cake, because my little plant is still producing. In the end I decided to save the rhubarb for one last pie for Thanksgiving and reached for a box of Quebec pears.
Before long, the kitchen was perfumed with an intoxicating concoction of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. The cake rose tall and turned golden, and it wasn’t long before Clara and I were tucking into a slice each. Delicious. Spicy and dense; not too sweet.
Our little family is going to face a few challenges in the coming months. Does knowing what lies ahead help ease the anxiety? Not really. But perhaps I can store a few pans of pear gingerbread in the freezer for the more difficult of days. Slowing down for tea and cake seems like a good way to come to grips with grown up issues. Add homemade applesauce and a little whipped cream and the road to recovery will be swift.
Pear Gingerbread
Ingredients
- 8 Tablespoons unsalted butter plus additional for the pan
- 1/2 cup Lyle's Golden Syrup or honey (I used honey)
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar I used organic muscavado
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 Tablespoons ground ginger I used half fresh, half dried
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
- 2 Bosc pears peeled and cut into 1/4-inch slices
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch square or equivalent pan.
- In a small sacuepan, melt together the butter, syrup, and brown sugar over low heat. Gently stir to combine as the mixture melts. Set aside.8 Tablespoons unsalted butter, 1/2 cup Lyle's Golden Syrup, 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Pour the butter mixture into the flour mixture and combine with a few strokes of a wooden spoon, taking care not to overmix.2 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 2 Tablespoons ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
- In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and yogurt. Add the egg mixture to the batter, and gently combine. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan.1 large egg, 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
- Lay the pears on top of the batter in a pinwheel shape. Bake until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean when inserted into the cake, 30 to 35 minutes2 Bosc pears
Notes
Wisely, Alana calls for a 9x9 inch pan. I only had 8x8 and the baking temperature was longer than usual, which made the edges of the cake dry out slightly. Go with 9x9!
Nutrition
If you get a chance, pick up The Homemade Kitchen in a bookstore and flip through it for the lovely photos. They are magazine-pretty, yet don’t feel staged – not an easy accomplishment.
When Alana and family dropped in on us earlier this summer, her daughter Rosie and my Noah perched on the sofa together with their mum’s cookbooks and chuckled at the photos of themselves on the pages. Alana and I elbowed each other and tried to listen into their nine-year-old commentary. It was all rather adorable. I’m happy Noah got the chance to commiserate with someone who understands what it’s like to have a photographer follow you around in the apple orchard.
Giveaway
Thanks to the lovely people at Clarkson Potter I have a very special giveaway for you!
Grand Prize:
One winner will take home a grand prize of:
- One Zwilling Stainless-Steel 6-inch Chef’s Knife (I own and love this knife)
- The Homemade Kitchen’ tote bag (these are beautiful!)
- A signed copy of The Homemade Kitchen
.
Second and Third Prize:
A copy of The Homemade Kitchen shipped to the doors of two runner up winners.
To enter: leave a comment on this post and tell me your current fall baking or cooking obsession. That’s it!
Giveaway ends Sunday, October 11, 2015 at 7AM. Winners will be announced in my Weekend Links post. Good luck to all!
Apples of course, for the moment. I’ll be busy trying to bake with them in as many ways possible, along with preserving them in all forms for winter.
Hi Aimee, I’m living in the Rheingau a very famous winearea in Germany. Now when it is time to pick the grapes I love to bake and eat an onionpie which is loved in my family. When we want a sweat taste I love to serve a quincestrudel. This crispy buttery an fruity cake means autumn for me. I love to read your blog and your cookbook is in my Kitchen very often. I would love to traf the homemade Kitchen as well! Greetings from Germany
Pear tart! Love fall cooking
Slow cooker chili! So comforting and yummy
For fall I tend to make a lot of apple recipes.
Crispbreads! Channelling all things Nordic in the hope I might end up there! Would love to tour these lands in the wintry months.
Hello Aimee, thanks for the giveaway :). My fall addiction, every year, is chestnuts, I put them in everything all season long! Do you think I could add some candied or plain bits of chestnuts to your lovely pear gingerbread?
Definitely pumpkin! I never liked pumpkin when I was a kid and then came across a pumpkin bread recipe that sounded yummy so I tried it. Now I’m hooked.
My current favorite meal is potato soup with collard greens, followed by apple crisp. Also, I am experimenting with apple cakes, trying to get one like my Nana’s.
Gingerbread! The children wanted to make gingerbread Halloween houses, and I remembered how wonderful cooking gingerbread and gingerbread cookies makes the house smell for fall! Thank you for the chance to win such a great looking book. I hope your family is alright and that you do manage to tuck away lots of good treats in the freezer. With a husband from England, I’ve learned that teatime does make everything better (at least for a little while)!
Every fall I make pear-ginger coffee cakes with a praline icing. The icing is so good that most of it never actually makes it to the cake 😉
Apples, pumpkin, anything ginger and stuff for high school softball tailgating are currently occupying my cooking thoughts. GO WILDCATS! As they compete this weekend for their fifth straight state championship!
I love all things Apple right now, so I’ve been making lots of yummy fall recipe. This cookbook looks absolutely gorgeous!!! I can’t wait to check it out 🙂
I’m looking forward to making an applesauce cake this weekend!
Just made a delicious chili with a rainbow of peppers and lean ground turkey!
I love any kind of soup.
Apple crisp! This is our favourite time of year to pick apples and bake our little hearts out. There’s nothing better than the smell of apples and cinnamon baking in the oven 🙂
Happy Thanksgiving!
Carrin
I have really gotten into creating new Texas style sheet cakes and homemade ice creams. The two go together perfectly!
I’m all about the soups this fall! My four kiddos have been enjoying lots of different combos of root vegetables with the end of the summer bounty, and vegetarian soups and stews are the perfect way to warm us all up at the end of the day.
Roasted vegetables! There is an abundance of squash this time of year. Mix squash with new potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnip, carrots, red peppers and lots of onion and garlic…my comfort food during the changing weather.
I hope everything works out for your family in the coming months. You make this cake look amazing!
For cooking – I made pear sauce for the first time and am experimenting with different uses.
Almond biscotti…..and maple oatmeal cookies. I put this cookbook in my Amazon shopping cart just because! Thank you and thoughts and prayers for whatever you and your family are facing! Positive outcome!
Winter squash, apples, and pears are my fall favorites!
My current fall cooking obsession is all things pumpkin…pumpkin chili, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, pumpkin ravioli!
Right now I can’t get enough stews and casseroles. Fewer dishes to clean and the long simmering baking filling the house with delicious smells. I’ve been waiting for fall (I live in the southern US) for this warm comfort food!
For fall this year, I just want a chance to bake ANYTHING. Our own little family has been going through challenges this year and I hope we’re on the upswing finally. For some reason I’ve set Feb. 2016 as my mental goal for finally getting life back to close to the way it was. My son’s first birthday is also this month, and I’m deciding what to bake for his celebration… currently circling around the idea of a gingerspice cake for the grownups.
Alana’s new book looks beautiful!
Love apples – pies, crisps, salads….
And sticky buns this time of year. Love the house smelling like apples, cinnamon, ginger….
Persimmon pudding – a new one for me!
pumpkin, 🙂
Pumpkin walnut date bread!
I have apples, crabapples to preserve and bake in breads and cakes. But my favorite fall thing to bake is gingerbread!!!!
Being a Scot in Canada, I love the change of seasons to something a little chillier…..makes teatime so much more pleasant when it’s not 27 degrees outside 🙂 and means i don’t mind turning on the oven to make a quick batch of scones. For Autumn, I add lots of warm spices which make the house smell delicious as they are baking and always gets the children running to join me for a cuppa! Our current favourite scones are pear and ginger.
Good luck with your challenges and hopefully they are soon behind you!!
Thank you for introducing me to Alana’s cookbooks! They look wonderful!
I love all kinds of soups and homemade breads. I love autumn.
Fall inspires with thoughts of apples, pears, cranberries and pumpkin – yum!!!
I love your blog! My current obsession is soup (for myself) and pies (for others). There is something satisfying about seeing and smelling a perfect pie coming together!
Vegetarian chilli, baked beans and roasted squash?
Pumpkins! I feel so accomplished when I have them roasted and packed away in the freezer for winter baking.
I love ‘The Homemade Pantry.’ Thank-you for introducing me to Alana. 🙂
Apple and Pumpkin related baking season is upon us, but my current obsession is making Shokupan, Japanese Milk Bread. Oh so soft, and divided into rolls fitted into a loaf pan for easy sharing.
Right now it seems to be all I can do to get dinner on the table. I made a big pot of leftover soup last weekend. We had it for dinner, then for lunch over cornbread. I suspect this weekend will involve a big pot of soup too—and maybe a squash or pumpkin quick bread. Our family treasures Alanna’s first book and uses it weekly.
I’ve been obsessed with cornbread. It’s finally started getting chilly out, so we’ve been having soups, stews, and chili frequently – and of course nothing goes better with it than homemade cornbread! Of course, I’ve also been baking with apples too. 🙂
I am trying to bake with fresh pumpkins this fall.
I have been trying to find ways to put apples in everything. My in-laws apple tree went crazy this year and we only need so much applesauce!
Lentil soups and baked english-style puddings. Perfect. I also tried making chili paste for my vegetarian chili. It was fantastic and provides much deeper flavours than chili powder. I’d definitely recommend it.
Whole wheat pumpkin chocolate chip muffins–great for breakfast, brunch, or anytime!
Apples…..especially apple crisp!!
This is the perfect recipe for us since we are loaded down with pears from our 3 pear trees (bosc, d’anjou and colette).
My fall baking obsession is not what I’m baking, but how I’m baking. I’ve been using my solar oven to bake all kinds of breads, zucchini muffins and more. I can’t wait to try this recipe in the solar oven. Beautiful crisp fall days gives me plenty of sunshine – even in northern New England – to bake with the sun!
I love making all things apple: apple cakes, apple strudel, apple sauce, apple cider vinegar.
Oh, my gosh, I absolutely loved Homemade Pantry so I know I will love this one, too! I also live in western MA which makes me love Alana’s books even more, if that’s possible! For me, this time of year is all about making my grandmother’s apple crisp with Northern Spy apples (a heritage variety). Her topping did not include oatmeal and everyone who I’ve ever served it to thinks it’s far superior, hands down. Yum. I think I’d better go pick up some apples today….
Pumpkin pie… I’ve had it for breakfast three times this week! 🙂
Right now I’m in the applesauce phase. Luckily, apples hold for a while and I can use them as time allows. And there is that blackberry jam cake recipe calling me.