Vanilla pear bread with ginger
Because it isn’t too sweet, this bread is equally suited to breakfast and dessert. Lightly toast and butter it for breakfast. For dessert, reduce some of the pear juice with sugar and brush the top of the warm loaf with it. Or split a piece and serve with more pears and whipped cream. Or just eat it plain!
4 ounces (1 stick) butter, room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1⁄2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
zest of one lemon, finely chopped
1⁄4 cup buttermilk
1⁄4 cup crystallized ginger, chopped
1 1⁄2 cups Truitt Bros. diced Bartlett pears, well drained
Cream the butter and sugar in a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping the sides of the bowl between eggs. Add the vanilla and mix to combine.
Sift the dry ingredients together and add the lemon zest and crystallized ginger. Add the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture in 3 separate additions, alternating with the buttermilk and ending with dry. Mix only until smooth. Fold in the diced pears so that they’re evenly distributed. Pour the batter into a buttered 3 x 9” loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees until golden brown, about one hour.
Pear spice upside down cake (one 8” cake)
1 tablespoon butter
1⁄4 cup brown sugar
6-8 Truitt Bros. Bartlett pear slices, halved
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup pureed pears (about 16 pear slices)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
4 oz (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter an 8-inch cake or spring form pan and cover the bottom with a circle of parchment paper. Butter the parchment and set aside. Melt the first measure of butter with the brown sugar in a small saucepan. When the sugar has dissolved, scatter the mixture over the bottom of the pan. It won’t cover the bottom completely—that’s okay. Decoratively fan the halved pear slices over the bottom of the pan without overlapping them.
Whisk the flour, baking soda, spices, and salt together in a bowl. Put the pear slices in a small bowl and mash with a fork until somewhat smooth and the texture is uniform.
Cream the butter with the sugars in an electric mixer on medium-high speed until combined well. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the egg. Beat until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and mix another minute. Reduce the speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing until combined well and being sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl. Add the pear puree and mix until combined well.
Gently spoon the batter over the pears and spread evenly to cover them. Bake in the middle of a preheated 350 degree oven until a wooden pick or skewer comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes.
Leave the cake in the pan and cool on a rack for 10 minutes. Remove side of spring form pan (or flip out of cake pan onto a plate) and cool completely.
Pear hazelnut frangipane tart (one 10”- tart)
Two of Oregon’s top-producing crops come together in an easy dessert that can be enjoyed year round.
1 prebaked 10” tart shell
1 cup (4 ounces) hazelnuts, skinned
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
7 tablespoons (3.5 ounces) butter
2 eggs, room temp
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
6-8 Truitt Bros. Bartlett pear halves
3/4 cup pear liquid
1/4 cup sugar
Place the hazelnuts, sugar and flour in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the nuts are very finely ground. Cream the butter in an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add one cup of the nut mixture and mix to combine. Beat in 2 eggs along with another cup of the nuts. Repeat. Add the vanilla, mix until well combined and refrigerate about 10 minutes before assembling the tart.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Drain the pears well reserving. Slice each half into thin slices without going all the way through. Spread the hazelnut frangipane evenly in the cooled, parbaked shell. Place the pear halves in the frangipane and press gently to fan the slices. You’ll probably be able to fit 7- 9 pears in the pan. Lightly sprinkle the pears with granulated sugar. Bake for 30 minutes or until the frangipane puffs slightly to surround the pears and turns golden brown. (It should spring back when pushed lightly.)
While the tart is baking, put the pear liquid in a small saucepan with 2 tablespoons of sugar. Simmer over low heat until syrupy and reduced by half. Brush the tart with this syrup when it comes out of the oven and is still warm.
