A simple pear and chocolate cake recipe that's great for a fall brunch or dessert. Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen and al di la Trattoria in Brooklyn.
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons fine-ground corn meal
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 3 eggs
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3/4 - 1 cup sugar
- 3 pears (I used relatively firm Bosc pears)
- 3/4 - 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chunks or chips
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch spring form pan. Coat with fine cornmeal, breadcrumbs, or flour.
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I didn’t peel my pears, but you can if you want to. Core and slice the pears into long, 1/8-inch thick slices. If using bar chocolate, chop or break into chunks.
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In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.
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Next, in a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, beat eggs on high speed for 9 minutes. Add sugar and beat 2 minutes more.
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Meanwhile, make the brown butter. Melt butter in a medium-sized saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Watch for the butter to bubble up, become fragrant and then slowly brown, after about 6 - 8 minutes. Once browning has started, keep a close eye and stir constantly. Remove form heat when butter is a rich golden hue – butter will continue to brown once removed from heat.
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Turn mixer to low and add flour and butter alternately. Turn off mixer, and use a spatula to fold any unmixed flour into batter. Pour into prepared pan, and then press pear slices into the batter. I pressed them in a circular pattern with each slice nestled very close to the next. Scatter chocolate across the top. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and bake 40 - 50 minutes. Remove cake from over just after the center has set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs attached (cook time may be slightly longer, so be sure to check).
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Cool cake 20 minutes, then unmold, slice, and serve.