Kid Table. Can we talk about the Kid Table? The Kid Table was something that I had to endure every holiday from the age of three to um…. present. You know what the Kid Table is, right?
The integral family socialization tool. The foundation of society. The folding table and chairs circa 1943 that your Grandma busts out every every every Christmas. Who sits at this pint sized table? Certainly not Grandpa, Grandma, or any other high ranking family members.
It’s called the Kid Table for a reason. It’s where you dump all the kids. In the adult mind, I think it’s the “sit down, eat your Christmas dinner, and if you’re going to throw your Jello salad at each other, I prefer to ignore it” table.
The Kid Table still exists in my family. One small catch: there are no more kids in my family.
Let me just say that Christmas dinner at the Kid Table is now…. more awesome than ever! Kid Table got cool. Kid Table is now the place to be. Boom… youth success!
There’s nothing like wine, family smack talk with your cool uncles, and stealing all of the thunder from the main table. They would sooooo like to think they’re the main event. False. Kid Table… cooler than ever!
And now… Pear Spice Cake.
SpicySweet.
This recipe is adapted from an old school Gourmet Magazine recipe. By ‘old school’, I’m talking early 1990’s. Way back in the day, right?
The pears add a delicate flavor and lots of moisture, but the cake doesn’t exactly scream pear right in your face. It’s more of an awesomely spice cake with an out of the world praline topping. If you wanted to experiment with fruits like apricots, apples, raisins, I don’t think you could go wrong.
Pear Spice Cake with Walnut Praline Topping
adapted from Gourmet, December 1992
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice
- 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 large eggs, separated
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cups buttermilk
- 3 pears, peeled, cored and diced into roughly 1/2-inch pieces (about 1 to 1 1/4 cups of fruit)
- 1 cup walnuts (3 ounces), toasted , cooled, and finely chopped
Make cake:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour bundt pan.
Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Beat together butter, sugar, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg in another bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes in a standing mixer or 4 with a handheld. Add yolks 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low, then add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately in batches, mixing well after each addition. Fold in pear pieces and chopped walnuts.
Beat egg whites in another bowl with cleaned beaters until they just hold stiff peaks, then fold whites into batter gently but thoroughly.
Spoon batter into pan, smoothing top, and bake until a wooden pick or skewer comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack 10 minutes, then invert onto rack and cool completely.
Walnut Praline Topping
- 3/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/4 cup whipping cream
- 1 cups walnuts, roughly chopped, toasted
Cal
Made this today, it was a rainy afternoon here. It came out really well, even though I used yogurt, since in these lands buttermilk is hard to come by. Thanks for the wonderful recipe!
Rebecca
I made this cake last week – didn’t separate the eggs and grated the pears and I loved how it turned out! Thanks for the recipe.
Kristen
This was pretty good. Next time I would double the spices and add more fruit. Also, next time I won’t pour the topping onto the cake directly after removing it from the stove (let it sit for a few minutes).
Laura
Oh my, Joy. Just made this for my first time hosting Thanksgiving, and it was incredible. I totally trusted you, as this was the only desert option and I’ve never made it before, but I knew you could be trusted. The only change I made was that I used apples instead of pears since I wound up with 50+ lbs of apples, and this was an amazing way to start to make a dent in them. I may have never before put something so delicious in my mouth, and all others who partook heartily agreed. Thanks for the awesome recipe, and Happy Thanksgiving! (PS- I made a froze your apple coffee cake recipe for tomorrow morning- I’m sure it’s great too.)
Tristen
Joy – First off I love you! Second this was my husbands favorite cake growing up, but the recipe was lost before I ever got to try it. Last year for his birthday I was searching on you blog for a pear cake and he walked by the computer and saw the picture of this cake. He was so excited that I found the recipe and it lived up to his memories. Now I’m making it again for Thanksgiving today because he “has” to share it with his family. They are excited too. Thanks for giving us something old in his childhood a new life in your house. Third I’m really excited about the book!
Hanna Lee
This looks amazing, bought all the ingredients to bake it today! But I was wondering..Does this cake still taste good one day after bake it? I plan to bake this today and present it to guests tomorrow.
Leah H.
Just wondering if you would be able to freeze the cake without the topping? My neighbor just gave me a whole bushel of pears to use.
joythebaker
you can absolutely freeze this cake without the topping!
Kristen Anderson
I am already planning to make this for Thanksgiving 2011!!
Kenzie Alyse
I’ve been drooling over your recipes for weeks, and finally made this cake tonight for Valentine’s Day. O.M.G. Sugary, nutty, sweet yumminess and it goes SUPERBLY with a cup of coffee :) I don’t know why dessert is at the end of the day. It clearly should be the main focus. First recipe was a success, definitely not my last. Thanks!
Lucylew
I made this today. It was amazing. Spice cakes are totally boy bait.
Mike
With so many awesome recipes in this site, I found it hard to decide what to try first. So I went shopping and bought enough stuff to cook a half dozen of these recipes in the next few days. My wife will love me as she adores pears, walnuts, and pumpkin! I’ll start with this one and work over to the pumpkin cookies…. and then, who knows! Who cares? It’s certain to be tasty!
Jennifer
Oh my, was this cake delicious. The cake has a perfect balance of spices and pears. It pairs deliciously with the praline topping. Let me just tell you about the praline topping…it’s heavenly. Butter, brown sugar, walnuts, and heavy cream cooked together to perfection. It’s a celebration of warm gooey goodness in your mouth. Yummo!
Lamiaa
Hi, I tried your recipe this weekend and was absolutely gorgeous!!!!!
Thanks so much!!!
pam
Brown sugar, butter and whipping cream. How could you go wrong? This sounds so delicious and I have a bag of pears from a local orchard in my refrigerator just crying to be used this way. Thanks for the recipe.
Ken Topham
Wow Wow WOW! This was simply AMAZING! I really think Pears make incredible desserts. I always study recipes before making them and of course with Joy’s post I knew it would be awesome. This is a keeper recipe and people will go crazy over it. Mine was put in the break room for coffee this morning and gone by 11. I agree about the topping. That stuff should come with a warning label!!! Mine almost didn’t make it to the cake! Two thumbs up and thanks for a great recipe Joy!
joythebaker
so glad it was a success for you! rad!
cait
I made this on Saturday morning with Suncrisp apples. to bring camping (so I used loaf pans instead of a bundt). Literally, the words, “I think I just made the best thing I’ve ever baked” came out of my mouth. The cake was gone in minutes. Thanks!!
Joanna
Praline topping looks just indecent. I am tempted to make topping alone and skip the cake to be honest:) Pears and cinnamon is a kind of nostalgic combination for me – it’s fall again, another summer left behind, and here I am, one more time sitting with cup of tea and cinnamon&pear tart, again one year older.
LisaA
Joy, I made this cake yesterday, and it was DELICIOUS. You do have to be careful with the topping…it is so good, it just might disappear before you get it on the cake ;-D
Stacey
I never have buttermilk on hand. Can I use sourcream or yogurt instead?
RachelSmiles
there needs to exist a better word than scrumptious! that looks fantastic and I just got pears delivered in my local farmer’s market box for the week. #massiveWIN!
Jessica
Totally made this spicy-sweet pear cake yesterday. It was absolutely divine! And gorgeous too! Also important to mention that I could’ve eaten ALL of the walnut glaze out of the saucepan, by myself, in a very short amount of time. TOO GOOD!
Melanie Hayes
My boyfriend and I made this tonight for a party… It was delicious and Everyone loved it. At first we thought the glaze would get too hard on the cake, but it remained caramel-y. It is So moist! I am definitely going to make it again soon!
Chris
oh my, oh my, oh my goodness! Forget all about pumpkin pie (huh…what’s that?) and go straight for this as your T-giving desert tradition. Made it, ate it, loved it, huge raves, many ‘may I please have the recipe’ comments. YUM! And yes, the glaze is slightly left of heaven.
Tiff
I have leftover pears and buttermilk and am going to try making this right now! It looks delicious!
*Cammy*
Oh my Heaven! I made this cake and it was deliciously moist with the a good smack of sweet.
Amanda
Wow, this cake looks fabulous. I can only imagine how moist and delicious this is.
jack bauer
I made this cake and was delicious.:)
Maggie
That topping!!! It looks amazing!
chanina
Kids table rules!
I was wondering if I could use apples instead of pear…
your cake looks amazing, I want a piece right now!
Kate
Holy crap. That looks amazing. Can’t wait to try!
Lisa
I made this cake, and substituted apple sauce for 1/2 the butter (used the same amount) and it was freaking awesome.
It was a great way to use up the extra pears I had left over from the holidays!
Melody
What a great recipe! The photos are making me drool!
Tina B
I’ve been away (in Greece and Turkey, oh the agony…) for the last 4 months and have not had time to keep up with your blog regularly…I missed it!! This cake looks wonderful! I need to bake some tiropita first, but this may be second on my list.
We still have a kid table at our gatherings, although there are no kids usually..and yes, the kid table kicks, well, you know what!
Paula
YUM! I’ve got some pears in the fridge that need to be used. Thanks for the perfect recipe to use them in:) We always had a kid table too. It was such an honor to move up to the “Big Table” . Now we don’t have one anymore and I miss it!
Paula
I really like your photos and this combination pear walnut sounds extremly yummy.
Thanks for sharing
Courtney
You are too funny about the kid table…I was just thinking those thoughts over Christmas as my husband and I were put at ‘the kid table’ sans kids. It was so much more fun ;) This cake looks yummy too!! Happy New Year!
Hayley
I love the kid’s table story. It’s so much more fun smack talking the rest of your family with the cool members. Love the cake!
cindy
i totally know all about the kid table and the scorn i used to feel for it…i have vowed that when it comes my turn to be an adult i will banish the kid table…
oh, and you had me at walnut praline topping. this looks amazing…come on, so unfair.
Lemmonex
Woman, you are trying to kill me. I love pears. Now I HAVE to make this. *shaking first at heavens*
peabody
We never really had a kid table since we don’t like to spit out that many kids in our family. ;)
What a delish cake you have whipped up especially with that topping.
Jude
That topping looks fantastic. I can’t believe the 90’s is old school now. Man I’m getting old :)
laura
I just made this cake — although I got to the glaze portion and realized I may have put too much butter in the cake! When you say “remaining 1/2 cup” does that mean you only use 1/2 cup in the cake? Oh well.. a little extra butter never hurt anyone ;)
It is wonderful (even if I made it wrong :))… I’m trying to resist the urge to have a second slice with my coffee…
Megan
that walnut praline topping is just oozing in goodness :) sounds absolutely divine!
Kevin
That cake looks so good with the praline topping!!
Happy New Year!
Nicole
Yum. I love cakes with pears.
Okay, I just re-read your Mocha Rum Cake post and I laughed all over again. I completely forgot that I was going to try it. I must remember this time.
Judith
My first thought was “Oh. Pear.” But I love praline, and since the pear is subtle I’m tempted to try this. I’ve been in a huge caramel mold and I don’t dislike pears, I’m just not a big fan. It’d be nice to use some cheap seasonal produce in a way that doesn’t make it the star, though.
As for the Kid Table, we never really had one because I was the only kid in my extended family and even at our largest it was only 10-12 people that all fit around grandpa’s dining room table. These days, I’d be happy to be at the Kid Table just to have a holiday meal at all! But such are the sacrifices we make for being busy :-)
Maria
All of the fun happens at the kids table. I prefer to sit there!
Now on to this gorgeous cake of yours….I am LOVING it! I have pears at home…I can’t wait to get in the kitchen. Thanks and Happy New Year to you!
Food Hunter
That looks yummy!
Alison
Congrats! At 36, I was sent to the Kid Table on Mothers Day. I protested because on that side of my family, I am old enough to be the other kids’ mother (but I am not). LOL Eventually, it was decided that it was the dads’ turn to take care of their children and I was upgraded to the Adult Table (very thankfully I might add).
That being said, the Kid Table on the other side of the family ROCKS. Yes, the some of the kids are actually kids…but their parents who are also there…are in my age group. We were the original kids. ;)
Thanks for giving me a recipe to try out in my brand new bundt pan. :)
Pam
The kids table is where all the fun is!
Cristine
Mmmmm! Looks fantastic!
brilynn
I was told just last year by one of my younger cousins that I was ‘too old’ to sit at the kid table anymore. Why is it that I’m not quite old enough for the adult table though either?
Sassy
I still sit at the kid table too at 25! A few of my cousins and I keep saying “I think it’s time we upgraded to an adult table,” but the kid table is just so fun I don’t want to leave. Plus, that’s where you hear all the family dirt.
Erin
This looks delicious! I love pears but it’s rare to see good pear desserts. And the kid table is always the best, no matter how old you are :)
Christine
Oooh…. I got the Nordic Ware Anniversary Bundt pan, and some Harry & David pears for Christmas… I just need a few more ingredients, and this cake will be made!!! Hope you had a great Christmas, Joy!! :)
Culinarywannabe
Praline topping – SOLD!
Evan
AMEN SISTER! The kid table is where its at these days!
Brindi
My stars! That praline topping looks divine!
HoneyB
Looks delicious!
Betsy
When I complained about the kids’ table, my seven-years-older cousin told me that you can’t escape the kids table until you produce your own replacement.
Now we’ve each gotten married, and he has 2 children… and we’re still at the kids’ table!
Thanks for this lovely recipe.
Chef E
That looks really good…I like carrot cake made this way…and yes I remember the ‘kid’ table…
Genevieve
Ahhhh!! The kids table!! Its so totally true!!! I used to dread the kids table every year, and year after year I would dream about finally being able to sit with the grown-ups.. I even picked out the exact chair.. Now that I do sit with the grown ups, I miss the kids table!! Love the recipe too, will deff. try!