chocolate and pear cake

Friday I picked up a half bushel of pears.  Saturday our fridge was packed full of pears.  Sunday I began searching for pear recipes.  Monday I baked this cake.  Tuesday the cake was gone.  What else do I need to say.  Bake this cake!

Chocolate and Pear Cake - adapted from Smitten Kitchen

It is important to beat the eggs until they are a velvety yellow ribbon.  This is an important step in this cake.  You will need to get out your stand mixer for this one.

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 eggs, room temperature

1/2 cup unsalted butter

3/4 cup sugar

3 pears, peeled and cut into a small dice (I used Flemish Beauty, Bosc would also work well)

3/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter a 9 inch springform pan.  Dust with flour and set aside.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt.

Using a mixer with the whisk attachment, whip the eggs on high speed until pale and very thick.  (This took me about 7-9 minutes.)  

While the eggs are whipping, brown the butter.  Place the unsalted butter in a medium saucepan and brown over medium heat.  Continue to melt until the butter browns and smells nutty.  Occasionally scrap the bottom of the pan to release any solids from the bottom.  Be sure to watch the butter carefully to avoid burning the butter.  When ready, remove from the heat and keep warm.

Add the sugar to the eggs and whip a few minutes more.

Just as the egg/sugar mixture begins to lose volume, turn the mixer down to stir and add the flour mixture and butter.  Add one third of the flour mixture, half the butter, one third of the flour, the last half of the butter and the last of the flour.  Whisk until barely combined - no more than a minute from when the flour was first added.  Use a spatula to gently fold the ingredients together until all the ingredients are combined.  It is important not to work the batter too much or it will lose volume.

Pour into the prepared pan.  Sprinkle the pear and chocolate chips over the top and bake until the cake is golden brown and springs back when touched, about 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

We ate this cake just plain, but you could serve it with whipped cream or ice cream.