Cooking web notes

Pear Amaretto Crumble Cake and the Giveaway Winner!

We're back and we had a wonderful time! I'll do a post soon on the trip.
I find out tomorrow about the wrist. Keep your fingers crossed for me....I am sick and tired of this cast!
Will be visiting all of you ASAP.

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I hate to say this in print, but September is nearly upon us. Good grief. And in September I am hosting a coffee and meeting for 40 women which means gracing my table with muffins and sweet breads. I'm getting really bored with my old standbys so have been searching for some new and unusual recipes. And did I ever hit the jackpot with my new Ottolenghi cookbook. What a gem!

I found two to use, but the Pear and Amaretto Crumble Cake was my first experiment. Doesn't that sound wonderful? I made two small cakes with the recipe and gave some to two of my most trusted critics...they'll be totally honest.

This crumble cake is moist, has the most marvelous flavor and is filled with lovely sweet fresh pear chunks. Comfort food. Fabulous with tea or coffee. And I got enthusiastic seconds from my friends. So that's #1. I still have one more to try in this book and then I think I will also serve financiers. And maybe some really delightful creamy lemon bars for those serious sweet lovers.  Do you think perhaps I should add some healthy fruit?

Pear and Amaretto Crumble Cake
Ottolenghi, The Cookbook

Ingredients for the cake:
melted butter and fine bread crumbs for the baking pans
1/2 apple, peeled and diced
1 pear, peeled and diced
1/4 cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped
grated zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons Amaretto liqueur
1- 3/4 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 teaspoon cloves
generous 1/4 cup almond flour
3 eggs
2/3 cup sunflower oil
1- 1/4 scant cups sugar
1/3 teaspoon salt

Ingredients for the crumble:1 1/3 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
7 ounces cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

Method for the cake:
Preheat oven to 340°.

Grease two small loaf pans and then sprinkle with fine bread crumbs


Mix the apple, pear, walnuts, lemon zest and Amaretto. Set aside.


Sift together the dry ingredients, including the almond flour.Separate two eggs and mix the two yolks with the whole third egg. Beat the sugar and sunflower oil for about a minute. Add the 2 yolks and the whole egg. Add the dry ingredients, followed by the fruit mixture. Stop the machine as soon as everything is incorporated.


Beat the eggs whites with the salt until stiff peaks form. Fold into the batter carefully. Divide into the two loaf pans and top with the crumble. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.


Method for the crumble:
Mix the flour, sugar and butter together in a bowl only until the butter is incorporated. If you beat it too long, it will turn into dough. 

Last but not least, The End of Summer Giveaway Winner: The lucky winner is: Sam from  My Carolina Kitchen. Congratulations, Sam! Please email your mailing information to bsmithw@gmail.com so I can get your delicious fruit jams in the mail today!

This entry was posted on Friday, August 24, 2012 at 10:45 AM and is filed under Breads and Muffins, Cookbooks, Giveaways. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response.