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holiday cakes

Walnut, Pear and Espresso Cake (The Cake Slice Bakers)

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Walnut Pear Espresso Cake

It’s November (!) and we’re winding down the year of baking through The New Way to Cake by Benjamina Ebuehi. What a wonderful, tasty ride it’s been!

If you’re looking for amazingly unique cakes, you’ll want to pick up this cookbook and open your mind to new combinations of flavors.

Today I’m making the Walnut, Pear and Espresso Cake (called Hazelnut, Pear, and Espresso Cake in her cookbook).

Walnut Pear Espresso Cake

You’re thinking, ‘Espresso with Pears…?” It’s almost like having a delicious little piece of this cake with a side of coffee. But the coffee is in the cake!

Oh, and if you’ve ever read many of my posts, you’ll know that hazelnuts and I have a good and evil relationship. Hazelnuts being the evil one. Long story, but in my younger years I once ate too many hazelnuts and to this day can’t be near them. Use them if you’d like.

What do I like about this cake? It’s tasty, soft and not too sweet. It uses one bowl, one baking pan and a few utensils. Stir the batter together and pour it in the pan.

Walnut Pear Espresso Cake

The most time-consuming part of Walnut, Pear and Espresso Cake is dicing the pears. My Bosc pears were particularly juicy and slippery, so I had to be very careful with the knife. A cake decorated with a thumb is not a pretty thing.

I am so happy to be a part of Cake Slice Bakers and to have had the opportunity to discover this great cake cookbook. Again, the recipes have a few unusual ingredients, but there are substitutes you can use. Or find your local ethnic groceries, wander around, and experience something new!

Other Delicious Cakes from The New Way to Cake:

Walnut Pear Espresso Cake
 

Slice of Walnut Pear Espresso Cake on a white plate

Walnut Pear and Espresso Cake

Yield: 8 slices
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour

One-layer pear cake with a scent of espresso.

Ingredients

  • 2/3 C walnuts (or hazelnuts), plus extra to decorate
  • 3 eggs
  • 3/4 C plus 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/3 C all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp instant espresso powder
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 3/4 C butter, melted
  • 4 Bosc or Conference pears, divided

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375°. Spray the bottom and sides of a 9" round cake pan and fit a piece of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan.
  2. Pour the walnuts or hazelnuts onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Toast them for 8 minutes, tossing half-way through roasting. Remove them from the oven and set aside to cool.
  3. Turn the oven down to 350°.
  4. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and vanilla until combined. Stir in the flour, baking powder, espresso powder and cinnamon and mix well. Pour the butter in the bowl and combine until smooth.
  5. Peel, core and finely dice 2 of the pears, lightly patting them dry if overly wet. Chop three-quarters of the walnuts or hazelnuts. Gently fold in the pears and nuts, then pour the batter into the prepared pan.
  6. Cut the remaining 2 pears in half and core (with the skin left on). Slice the pears thinly and place them in a nice pattern on top of the batter, overlapping the slices. Sprinkle the batter with the remaining nuts.
  7. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the cake is risen and rather firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. It will pull away from the edges a bit. Turn the cake out onto a rack (removing the parchment paper) and let cool completely, about an hour.

Notes

Tips and Stuff:

Original recipe uses hazelnuts, but use whatever nut you have/want.

After you pour the melted butter into the batter, stir it in well.

Careful when slicing the pears - they can be slippery.  

To core the pears easily, use a melon baller to scoop it out.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1 slice
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 340Total Fat: 25gSaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 116mgSodium: 256mgCarbohydrates: 24gFiber: 2gSugar: 6gProtein: 6g

Nutrition Values are Approximate

© Benjamina Ebuehi
Category: Cakes
 
 

Each month The Cake Slice Bakers are offered a selection of cakes from the current book we are baking through. This year it is The New Way To Cake by Benjamina Ebuehi. We each choose one cake to bake, and then on the 20th – never before – we all post about our cake on our blogs. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important ones are to have fun and enjoy baking & eating cakes!

Follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the thumbnail pictures below to take you to each of our cakes. If you have a blog and are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details.

The Cake Slice Bakers also have a new Facebook group called The Cake Slice Bakers and Friends. This group is perfect for those who do not have a blog but want to join in the fun and bake through this book.

 
 

It is a new year and a new book – The New Way To Cake – and our choices for November 2020 were ~ 

 
 

Hazelnut, Pear & Espresso Cake

Hot Chocolate and Halva Pudding

Double Ginger and Grapefruit Cakes

 

Cider Glazed Apple Bundt Cake (#TheCakeSliceBakers)

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This is the last cake we’ll be baking in 2018 from The Perfect Cake by America’s Test Kitchen. And what a great cake cookbook it’s been! Our final selection from the book is our choice from any cake in the book and I chose the Cider Glazed Apple Bundt Cake.

Cider Glazed Apple Bundt Cake

I chose this cake because some of the other bakers in The Cake Slice Bakers had previously made it and it looked so, so good. And you know what? It is so very, very good.

That soft top is lightly soaked with the thick, candy-like glaze and when you invert the cake the top of the cake is now a moist and delicious bottom layer.

Here’s a photo of it right out of oven after it was glazed with the apple cider reduction:

Cider Glazed Apple Bundt Cake

Bret thinks the cake tastes like an old-fashioned apple cake (a compliment, not a complaint), but I think the texture is more tender and not as heavy. I liken it more to an apple fritter cake in a way. Simply delicious.

Besides the great texture, the shredding of the apples is genius. You get tart apples in every bite and I like that better than the bigger apple chunks (although chopped apples work well in my Fresh Apple Cake with Maple Glaze).

The apples along with the lightly spicy, tender cake make for a great cake. And that final apple cider glaze tops it off perfectly. I made about twice as much glaze because it completes the look and the deliciousness of the cake.

Cider Glazed Apple Bundt Cake

America’s Test Kitchen’s Cider-Glazed Apple Bundt Cake is one of those cakes that I’ll make over and over, for pot lucks, special occasions, holidays, and just at home to eat for dessert or with coffee at breakfast.

When you make it, make sure and let the cake cool about 45 minutes before putting the final glaze on (they say 30 minutes, but I say more, please) or the glaze will just soak into the cake and not look as pretty.

Cider Glazed Apple Bundt Cake

Cider-Glazed Apple Bundt Cake

Yield: 12
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Additional Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 3 hours 30 minutes

Tender, lightly spicy apple cake soaked with an apple reduction and topped off with a sweet glaze. Perfection,

Ingredients

  • 4 1/4 C. Apple Cider
  • 3 3/4 C  (18 3/4 oz) all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground allspice
  • 3/4 C (3 oz) powdered sugar
  • 16 tbsp butter, melted
  • 1 1/2 C packed (10 1/2 ounces) dark brown sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 lb Granny Smith apples, peeled and shredded (about 3 cups)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 12-cup nonstick bundt pan with baking spray with flour (if not using baking spray with flour, spray with regular baking spray and lightly flour the pan.)
  2. In a medium heavy-bottom pan, bring the cider to a boil over high heat. Cook until reduced to about 1 cup (20-25 minutes).
  3. While cider is reducing, in a large bowl, whisk the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and allspice together. Place the powdered sugar into a separate small bowl.
  4. Add 2 tablespoons of the cider reduction to the powdered sugar bowl and whisk until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside. Set aside another 6 tablespoons of the cider reduction in a cup (for pouring over the baked cake, yum).
  5. Pour the remaining 1/2 cup of cider reduction into a medium bowl; add the melted butter, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Whisk until smooth. Pour this cider/butter mixture over the flour mixture and stir with a large spoon until almost fully combined (don't worry if streaks of flour remain - you don't want to over-stir it or it won't be as tender). Stir in the apples and any juice they may have created until combined throughout the batter.
  6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with the back of a spoon. Bake until a skewer (or piece of spaghetti) comes out clean with just a very few crumbs on it, 55 minutes to 1 hour. Rotate the pan half-way through baking.
  7. Transfer the baked cake to a wire rack that's sitting on a rimmed baking sheet (to catch any drippings). Brush the exposed surface of the cake lightly with 1 tablespoon of the reserved cider reduction. Let the cake cool for about 10 minutes, then invert it onto the wire rack.
  8. Remove the pan and brush the top and sides of the cake with the remaining cider reduction. Let the cake cool for 30 minutes.
  9. Stir the powdered sugar glaze, then drizzle over the cake. Let the cake cool completely (about 2 hours) before stirring. The cake can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Notes

Tips and Stuff:

Stir the batter gently so the cake won't be tough.

I doubled the glaze for a prettier finished cake (and it's good).

Make sure the cake is fairly cooled before glazing or the glaze will soak into the cake.

The original recipe calls for unsalted butter, but I use regular salted butter. Your choice.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 457Total Fat: 17gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 87mgSodium: 555mgCarbohydrates: 70gFiber: 3gSugar: 36gProtein: 6g
© America's Test Kitchen
Category: Cakes

Cranberry Sour Cream Pound Cake

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Updated: September, 2020

Cranberry Sour Cream Pound Cake

This Sour Cream Cranberry Pound Cake is the next-to-the-last cake that we’re baking from America’s Test Kitchen’s The Perfect Cake.

Come January 2019 we may not be officially baking from the book anymore, but this is truly one special baking cookbook that will take its place on my carefully streamlined cookbook shelf.

I’m not being compensated in any way when I highly recommend The Perfect Cake if you’re in the market for a new cake cookbook!

Cranberry Sour Cream Pound Cake

Although this is what I classify as a fairly easy pound cake, it does take some time to chop up the cranberries, so do that before you begin. The eggs definitely need to come to room temperature, as does the butter.

When using the smaller loaf pan that’s called for, this cake takes over an hour-and-a-half to bake, then it cools for a couple of hours. If you’re using a larger loaf pan, be sure and lessen the baking time and start checking it earlier. So, yes it’s fairly easy to put together, but it does take a bit of time between the bake and the serve.

I use fresh cranberries, but you can also use frozen (don’t thaw before adding). It definitely wouldn’t be as good with dried cranberries, so get fresh if you can.

Cranberry Sour Cream Pound Cake

America’s Test Kitchen is spot-on for this pound cake recipe. From the ingredients to the instructions, each step is carefully structured to make sure your cake comes out its best. And it does!

Cranberry Sour Cream Pound Cake is a delicious, lighter-than-usual, wonderfully flavorful pound cake with bits of tangy cranberries scattered through it. (Enough adjectives for you?) This will be a great Fall or Christmas cranberry pound cake to share with friends and family.

We noticed that this delicious cake gets more moist every day. Grab a slice for dessert, a snack, or for breakfast and you’ll enjoy it immensely.

Cranberry Sour Cream Pound Cake

Cranberry Sour Cream Pound Cake

Yield: 10 slices
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 5 minutes

Soft, tender, delicious cranberry pound cake. Gets more moist every day.

Ingredients

  • 5 large eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 3/4 C (8 3/4 oz) all-purpose flour
  • Salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/3 C sour cream
  • 2 tbsp milk
  • 14 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 14 slices and softened, but still cool
  • 1 1/4 C (8 3/4 oz) granulated sugar
  • 1 C (4 oz) fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped coarsely
  • 1 tbsp powdered sugar

Instructions

  1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 300°. Spray an 8 1/2" by 4 1/2" loaf pan with cooking spray, then lightly flour the pan.
  2. Whisk the eggs and vanilla together in a small bowl. Sift the flour, 3/4 teaspoon of the salt, and baking powder together into a medium bowl. Whisk sour cream and milk together in a separate small bowl.
  3. Using a stand mixer, beat the butter on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl as needed. Reduce speed to medium and gradually add the granulated sugar. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until pale and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, again scraping down the bowl as needed. Reduce speed to medium and gradually add the egg mixture in a low, steady stream.
  4. Scrape down sides of the bowl, then continue to mix on medium speed until completely combined, about 1 minute (batter may look slightly curdled, but that's OK).
  5. Reduce mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the sour cream/milk mixture in 2 additions. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Give batter a final stir by hand to make sure everything is blended from the bottom of the bowl.
  6. Toss the cranberries with powdered sugar and 1/8 tsp. salt in a small bowl until evenly coated (to keep them from sinking to the bottom of the cake). Fold cranberries into the batter.
  7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and gently tap pan on counter a couple of times to release air bubbles. Bake until toothpick inserted in the center comes out virtually clean, 1 3/4 hour to 1 hour 55 minutes - rotating the pan halfway through baking. Start checking the cake for doneness at 1 hour.
  8. Remove the cake pan to a wire rack and cool for about 15 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and let cool completely on the rack - about 2 hours.

Notes

Tips and Stuff:

Don't use dried cranberries, please.

I used 2% milk and salted butter.

If you use a larger loaf pan, use the same instructions, but keep checking every 15 minutes after one hour of baking. It won't take as long to bake in a larger pan.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1 slice
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 286Total Fat: 20gSaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 140mgSodium: 125mgCarbohydrates: 20gFiber: 1gSugar: 2gProtein: 6g

Nutrition Values are Approximate

© America's Test Kitchen
Category: Cakes