Caramelized Pear Upside Down spice Cake

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Ingredients

• 6 T. unsalted butter
• 3/4 C. packed light brown sugar
• 6 Bosc pears (peeled and cored and divided)
• 1 1/3 C. unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2/3 C. granulated sugar
• 1/4 t. ground cardamom
• 1/4 t. freshly-grated nutmeg
• 1 t. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 t. ground ginger
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1 t. sea salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1 t. orange zest
• 3 T. finely-chopped candied ginger
• 1 t. vanilla bean paste
• 1/2 C. vegetable oil
• Whipped heavy cream for serving
• Raspberries for garnish

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat a 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat. When the pan is hot, melt the butter in the pan. As soon as the butter has melted, remove the pan from the heat and sprinkle the brown sugar over the melted butter.
2. Prepare the pears. Peel the pears. Grate two Bosc pears into a bowl and set aside. Quarter the remaining four pears and thinly slice them. Arrange the sliced pears on top of the brown sugar in the cast iron skillet in a circular pattern. (I was using large Bosc pears and did not use all of the pear slices on top of my cake.)
3. Mix flour, sugar, spices, baking soda and salt together in a bowl and whisk. Set aside.
4. Add eggs, orange zest, candied ginger, vanilla and vegetable oil to the bowl with the grated pears and whisk to combine. Add the dry ingredients to this bowl and stir the mixture just until it is combined.
5. Spread the batter evenly over the sliced pears in the cast iron skillet. Bake at 350 degrees F. for about 40 minutes. When your cake is done, a skewer inserted into the center of the cake will come out clean and the cake will be springy to the touch. The finished cake will be moist, particularly on the day it is baked.
6. Leaving the cake in the skillet, cool on a wire rack for about 20 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the cake to ease removing it from the skillet. Carefully invert the skillet over a serving platter and the cake should come out of the pan easily. (Remember that the cast iron skillet is pretty heavy.) Garnish with fresh raspberries.
7. Serve at room temperature with a generous dollop of heavy whipped cream. Enjoy.

Nutrition

Calories

4208 cal

Fat

187 g

Carbs

670 g

Protein

30 g

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Bailey’s Irish Cream Poundcake

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Ingredients

For the Cake:
• 1 C. unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 1 2/3 C. all-purpose flour
• 2/3 C. light brown sugar
• 1/2 C. granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs (at room temperature)
• 1 1/4 t. baking powder
• 1/2 t. fine sea salt
• 1/2 C. Irish cream liqueur
For the Glaze:
• 1 1/4 C. confectioners' sugar
• 3 T. Irish cream (or more as needed-I used more to get a pouring consistency)

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. and prepare a 9-inch loaf pan by spraying it with non-stick spray and dusting it with a bit of flour.
2. Cream butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment at medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy. This will take about 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time while running the mixer at medium speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl after the addition of each egg. This should take about 30 seconds for each egg.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt together. Slowly, add this dry mixture to the butter mixture in your mixer bowl and mix until the dry mixture is fully incorporated. This will only take about 30 seconds. Add the Irish Cream and mix on low to combine for about 15 seconds more.
4. Pour your batter into the loaf pan you have prepared and spread it so that it makes an even layer.
5. Bake cake at 350 degrees F. for 55 to 65 minutes. When your cake is done, a skewer inserted in the center of the cake will come out clean. (I baked my cake for about 60 minutes. For the last few minutes, I put a piece of foil over the top of the cake to keep it from getting too done on top.)
6. Set cake on your counter to cool for about 10 minutes and then unmold it onto a wire rack to cool completely before applying the glaze.
7. To make the glaze, mix confesioners' sugar and Irish Cream until you have the glaze at the consistency you want for your cake. Pour the glaze over the cake and let it cool.
8. Cook's Note: I covered my cooked cake in plastic wrap and let it sit over night. Both the texture and the flavor of the cake were better on the second day. This cake dries out very quickly. Be sure to keep it tightly wrapped.

Nutrition

Calories

3731 cal

Fat

186 g

Carbs

509 g

Protein

23 g

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Apple Roses

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Ingredients

• 1 large sheet of defrosted puff pastry
• 2 red apples ( cored but unpeeled and sliced very thin)
• 3 T. apricot jam
• 2 T. water
• Granulated sugar (to taste)
• Cinnamon (to taste)
• Powdered sugar

Instructions

1. This recipe is adapted from the one that appears in the video link above.
2. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
3. Roll out defrosted puff pastry on a floured surface until it is about 1/8 inch thick. Cut the puff pastry into six to eight strips.
4. Put the apricot jam and water into a heatproof bowl. Melt the apricot jam in your microwave for about 1 minute and brush each strip of puff pastry with the melted jam. Set aside.
5. Microwave sliced apples in a bowl of water mixed with the juice of 1/2 lemon until the apples are partially cooked and pliable. Your apple won't roll properly if the apples aren't pliable. Perhaps my microwave is wimpy but, rather than the three minutes recommended in the video, I needed to microwave my apple slices for a little more than twice that amount of time. Drain the apples.
6. Arrange sliced apples along the long side of a strip of puff pastry with the red peel facing out. Sprinkle the apples with the granulated sugar and the ground cinnamon. Fold half of the puff pastry strip over the apple slices. Roll the strip tightly and put your apple rose into the well of a muffin tin that has been sprayed with oil or greased with butter. Repeat until you have used all the strips.
7. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes at 375 degrees F. Cool on your counter. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve. I'm thinking this would be wonderful served with a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream.

Nutrition

Calories

2400 cal

Carbs

624 g

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