There are a few things that I never baked with until I had children. Pears are one of them. My oldest loves pears; she still calls them apples. We are working on it! We will be heading out of town soon so I am trying to use up items in the fridge that might not last until we get back. Pears were at the top of the list.
This recipe is adapted from Smitten Kitchen. I have make a few tweaks for our liking. I decreased the sugar by 1/2 cup, added 2 teaspoons of ginger, and swapped 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla for almond extract. I also do few lazy busy mom sort cuts; I cut up the pears instead of grating them (partly for time and partly because my pears are nice and ripe) and I do not ice it or sprinkle powered sugar on it. We do smear a little butter on it after we toast it in the toaster over.
So try it...it does get better as it sits which makes for a great breakfast bread recipe.
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons of ginger
3/4 cup butter, softened (1 and 1/2 sticks)
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 and 1/2 cups sugar
2 to 3 pears chopped finely. (2 cups chopped)
1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Heat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a bunt pan.
Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and ginger in a large mixing bowl.
Peel and core pears, then finely chop them and set them briefly aside. In a medium bowl, combine the butter, eggs, sugar, grated pear, vanilla,and almond extract. Scrape the pear/butter mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until the flour disappears and the batter is evenly moistened.
Quickly scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake at 350°F for 60 minutes, or until the bread is browned and firm on top and a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool and then place on your cake stand for all to enjoy.
