Brown Sugar Pear Pound Cake

Total Time: 1 hr 25 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 1 hr 10 mins

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 3 cups light brown sugar, packed
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 5 eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup brandy or 1/4 cup pear brandy or 1/4 cup pear liqueur or 1/4 cup orange juice
• 2 1/4 cups firm ripe pears, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 2 -3 teaspoons orange peel, finely shredded
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup brandy or 1/3 cup pear brandy or 1/3 cup pear liqueur or 1/3 cup orange juice
• 4 large bartlett pears, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1/3 cup pear nectar or 1/3 cup pear juice
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Recipe

• 1 butter a 10-inch fluted tube pan.
• 2 coat lightly with flour, shaking out excess; set pan aside.
• 3 in a medium bowl stir together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
• 4 in a very large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.
• 5 add brown sugar and vanilla; beat on high speed until mixture is smooth and light, about 3 minutes.
• 6 add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until combined.
• 7 alternately add milk and the 1/4 cup brandy to flour mixture, beating just until combined after each addition and stopping occasionally to scrape the bowl.
• 8 fold in pears and orange peel.
• 9 pour batter into prepared pan, spreading evenly.
• 10 bake in a 350 degree f oven about 1 hour 10 minutes or until golden brown and a long wooden skewer inserted near the center comes out clean.
• 11 cool cake in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
• 12 for glaze, combine granulated sugar and the 1/3 cup brandy in a small saucepan.
• 13 cook and stir over medium heat until mixture just boils and sugar is dissolved.
• 14 remove cake from pan and place on wire rack.
• 15 place a piece of waxed paper under the wire rack.
• 16 with a pastry brush, brush the warm glaze over the entire surface of the cake.
• 17 cool cake completely.
• 18 serve with pear sauce.
• 19 to make pear sauce: in a medium saucepan combine pears, lemon juice, pear nectar, sugar, and vitamin c tablet.
• 20 bring to boiling over medium heat; reduce heat.
• 21 simmer, covered, about 15 minutes or until pears are soft.
• 22 if mixture seems dry and in danger of scorching, add a bit more nectar to pan.
• 23 remove from heat.
• 24 cool slightly.
• 25 puree mixture in a food processor or blender; strain through a fine-mesh sieve.
• 26 stir in vanilla.
• 27 taste sauce and adjust sugar if necessary.
• 28 cool and refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 72 hours.
• 29 makes about 2 cups.
• 30 make-ahead tip: store cooled cake tightly wrapped at room temperature up to 2 days.