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
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!