Pear Skillet Cake
Serving Size:8|Prep Time:35minutes|Cook Time:50minutes
Directions
Pear Sauce
  1. Place 1/3rd of the diced pears and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice into a small sauce pot. Heat over medium heat until soft, mashing with a fork or potato masher to make a pear sauce. Remove from heat and cool.
Cake
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
  2. Measure the oil into a 10-inch cast iron skillet and with a paper towel, lightly coat the pan with the oil.
  3. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream the butter and granulated sugar together until fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Lower the speed and add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the pear sauce and almond extract.
  4. In a separate bowl, measure the flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk to combine. Turn the electric mixer to the low setting and slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternately with the yogurt, beginning and ending with the flour until combined. Take care not to over mix the batter.
  5. Fold in half of the remaining diced pears. Spoon the batter into the prepared skillet and sprinkle the remaining pears over the batter.
  6. Sprinkle the crystal sugar on top and bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick emerges clean when inserted.
  7. Serve warm or cool, dusted lightly with powdered sugar.
Chef’s Narrative
A cast iron skillet is the traditional means to cook this two-step cake, but tempered glass cake pans work nicely too. We’ve replaced about half of the butter with freshly prepared pear puree to add moisture and cut the calories. The cake is beautifully moist with a nice crumb.
Recipe Substitutions
– Apples and Asian pears all work nicely with this recipe – You can use unsweetened apple sauce instead of making the pear sauce, if you prefer. – To make vegan, use vegan butter in place of the regular butter and vegan yogurt in place of the low-fat dairy yogurt.
Ingredients
  • 3pears, peeled and cored, diced ¼ inch
  • 1teaspoonlemon juice
  • ½teaspoonneutral oil
  • 6tablespoonsLulubelle’s™ Creamery unsalted butter
  • 1 ½cupsgranulated sugar
  • 3Gwendolyn’s™ Organic eggs, large
  • 1 ½teaspoonsalmond extract(or high quality vanilla)
  • 2cupsall-purpose flour
  • 1 ¾ teaspoonsbaking powder
  • ¾teaspoonsalt
  • ¾cupplain low-fat yogurt
  • 2tablespoonssanding sugar
  • 1tablespoonpowdered sugar (optional)
AllergensMilk, Eggs, Tree Nuts, Wheat