On the Lamb threw a Speakeasy last night… complete with Bathtub Gin and Juice, Pork and Wild Boar Sliders and Cherry Bourbon Ice Cream. There was bourbon and scoundrels as far as the eye could see. Before we get down and dirty with my new favorite ice cream flavor, here’s a peek at what setting up a roarin’ Speakeasy looks like.

A Speakeasy requires a guest list, a password at the door, and a cash box for cashmoney.  

The menu.  Stellar.  

I think every good Speakeasy should have the option to play Spin the Bottle… don’t you? 

As the night progressed, we would come to know these strawberry flavored marshmallows very well.  

Silly games for a party full of strangers.  

We are the ladies of On the Lamb and we require pretty dresses.  

We had streamers on the ceiling.  No… these streamers did not hang themselves.  We hung them.  Every one. 

Ever go snooping in a medicine cabinet?  Yea…. me too.  We have candy in our medicine cabinet.  Everybody wins. 

Brioche buns for the pork and veal sliders.  Shut up.  So good!

We run a tight ship.  Our night was all planned out.  

And before we got the hungry grumpies from all our prep work, Rachel made us lunch.  Bless her soul. 

The Speakeasy was a raging success.  Pictures of the evening will be up shortly.  I was running around with food and cocktails, not my camera.  Thank you to everyone who shared their evening with us.  You people made our gathering amazing!  Y’all know how to bring the fun!  Thank you for your support and your thirst and your appetites.  

If you’d like to know more about On the Lamb and be on the mailing list for our upcoming events, check out onthelambfb.com.  Oh!  Daily Candy likes us too.. RAD!

Now let’s get down to business.  We have some ice cream to talk about… just about the best ice cream ever!  Bourbon soaked cherries in a gorgeous vanilla ice cream.  Take a few days to soak dried cherries in bourbon.  They’re amazing in desserts, in cocktails, in your face… you can’t go wrong.  

This ice cream base is Alton Brown’s recipe.  I love that it is devoid of eggs.  Sometimes ice cream bases with egg yolks get a little too… eggy for me.  In this recipe, the cream is heated to 170 degrees F, then cooled overnight and churned the next day.  It works out wonderfully!  The bourbon in this recipe really works to keep the ice cream pretty soft even when it’s in the freezer.  Dreamy.  Do it.  

Cherry Bourbon Ice Cream
     adapted from Alton Brown

     makes 1 quart of ice cream

     Print this Recipe!

2 cups half and half
1 cup whipping cream
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons cherry preserves (not jelly. preserves)
1 vanilla bean split and scraped
1/4 cup bourbon soaked cherries, roughly chopped
1 to 2 cups of bourbon for soaking cherries, 2 Tablespoons bourbon for the recipe

Make bourbon soaked cherries by combining 1/2 cup dried cherries with 1 to 2 cups of bourbon. Let the mixture sit in a clean jar with a lid, for at least two days. Once the cherries have plumped up you can make this ice cream with the cherries and a bit of the bourbon… and you can sit around just sipping on the rest of the bourbon. Deeelicious.

Combine all ingredients except the chopped cherries and bourbon, in a large saucepan over medium heat. Place a candy or frying thermometer in the milk mixture. Stirring occasionally, bring the mixture to 170 degrees F. This is pretty hot for milk. If your milk breaks a bit, don’t worry too much. It’ll work out in the end.
Once 170 degrees F is reached, remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Remove the vanilla bean and add the chopped cherries and bourbon.  Stir to combine  and  place mixture in a lidded container and refrigerate overnight. This will allow the flavors to mellow and improve the texture of the milk.
Freeze mixture in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The mixture will not freeze hard in the machine but will increase in volume and be the texture of soft serve ice cream. Place the mixture in a container with a lid and freeze for at lease one hour before serving.

Persimmon Pudding, from tree to table.  

Step One:  Find a neighbor with a gorgeous, almost cartoon like persimmon tree.  Ask your Mom to help you pick persimmons… Mom always likes to help.

Step Two:  Entice neighbor and Mamabear with the promise of fresh baked persimmon pudding if you’re granted access to their persimmon tree.  

Step Three:  Try this phrase, “Hey Neighbor!  I think you’re just swell.  Can I borrow a ladder?  That’s one tall tree.  Sweet… thanks.”

Step Four:  If you decide to sneak a peek into the other neighbor’s yard while you’re up on that ladder picking persimmons… maybe you’ll want to be more subtle than my mother.  I’m just sayin…

Step Five:  Pick the ripest, softest persimmons.  Way to be, Mom!

Step Six:  Carefully place super ripe persimmons in bag to cart off home, thanking your neighbors Dan and Libby for their ladder and their abundant tree. 

Step Seven:  If you don’t happen to have a neighbor with a persimmon tree, I’m betting that the local farmer’s market will have some gorgeous Hachiya persimmons for you this time of year…. and you won’t need a ladder. 

Step Eight:  Call your favorite Aunt from Indiana and ask her to promptly send you all of the persimmon recipes she owns… that will be a lot.  Seriously.  Thanks Judy!

Let’s very quickly clear up any confusion you might have about persimmons.  There are probably two types of persimmons that you might run in your search for the fruit this autumn.  Fuyu persimmons are the squat little darlings that you can eat when they are hard.  Hachiya persimmons are the more bulbous fruit that are best enjoyed super right and super soft.  Hachiya persimmons are lovely for baking as they are super sweet… like eating nectar… dreamy.

Now… let’s talk about ‘Simmon Puddin’.  When you think of Persimmon Pudding think of sweet and super moist bread pudding meets spice cake.  If you can… close your eyes and think about a dessert that you grandmother might make in October 1976 if you lived in Indiana… now, you might not like this dessert as much as you like your grandmother’s chocolate cake, but you liked that she served her Persimmon Pudding with super melty vanilla ice cream… which made everything ok.   There you go…. that’s Persimmon Pudding.

Persimmon Pudding

     some old school Indiana newspaper 1976

     makes 6 to 8 servings

     Print this Recipe!

2 cups fresh Hachiya persimmon pulp, removed from the skin

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

2 cups milk

1 egg

1 tablespoon melted butter, plus more for buttering dish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter a 9×9 baking dish and set aside

Stir the baking soda and sugar into the persimmon pulp and set aside.  This mixture may thicken as it sits… that’s ok!

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and spices.  Add to the persimmon mixture all at once and stir until flour is almost completely incorporated.  

Whisk together milk, egg and butter and add to the persimmon and flour mixture.  Batter will be very loose.  Pour into the baking dish.  

Bake for 1 hour covered with foil, or uncovered.  If you make the pudding covered, you’ll have a very wet and moist pudding.  If you bake the pudding uncovered, you’ll have a drier pudding topped with a bread like crust.  I baked my pudding uncovered.  Bake the pudding until it is firm but still very moist.

Allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.  Best served warm with vanilla ice cream.

Lovely friends… hi.  Dear readers… hello.

Let’s talk about keeping it classy.  Hot dang! I try hard to keep it classy.  Holy smokes… do I ever fail sometimes.

Let’s discuss classy versus not classy, and what the heck chocolate dipped bananas have to do with anything.

Classy:  a tastefully short summer sundress.  Not class:  booty shorts that awkwardly bunch in the crotch.

Classy:  gracefully switching from wine to water at the company picnic.  Not classy:  maybe getting drunk and punching the sous chef in the face.  Oops.

Classy:  How much I love listening to public radio.  Not classy:  How much I love to watch The Real Housewives of  New Jersey.  Guilty… but why do they yell so much?

Classy: Enjoying mini chocolate dipped bananas on a summer afternoon.  Not as classy:  Trying to gnaw your way through a giant chocolate dipped banana.  It’s just not pretty friends.  Let’s try to avoid this scene this summer.  I think we all know why.

In case you’re wondering what I’ll be eating all summer, the answer is homemade kettle corn and these little lovelies.  Gracious heavens, how have I not come to these sooner!?  Use the best chocolate you can get your hands on.  I used a Valrhona 70% chocolate.  How about nuts!?  Heck yes!  I liked chopped honey roasted peanuts, but walnuts or toasted pecans would be lovely too.

Mini Chocolate Dipped Bananas

Print this recipe!

3 firm but ripe bananas

9- 12 wooden popsicle sticks or lollipop sticks

2 cups chocolate chips or chunks, melted

1/2 cup nuts of your choice, pulverized in the food processor or finely chopped.

Peel three firm bananas and slice each banana into thirds or fourths.  Each banana slice should be about 3 inches tall.

Place wooden sticks or lollipop sticks through the center of one end of the banana slice, about 2 inches deep.

Place of a tray or plate, making sure that the bananas do not touch, cover with plastic wrap and freeze for four hours, or overnight.

Using a food processor, pulse the nuts until they are chopped very fine.  You can also do this by hand, it just takes a bit longer.  Place in a bowl and set aside for the dipping.

Melt chocolate over a double boiler.  Simmer 3 inches of water in a pot, place the chocolate in a heat proof bowl and, once the water is simmering, place the bowl of chocolate over the simmering water.  The water should not touch the bottom of the bowl.  Stir the chocolate pieces  occasionally until they’re all melted.

Remove bananas from the freezer, dip in chocolate, roll in nuts and place on a foil lined baking sheet.  When all the bananas are dipped, return to the freezer for 30 minutes to harden.  Once hard, wrap individually in plastic wrap and store in the freezer until you’re ready to snack on them.  Yum!  I think they’re best eaten when thawed at room temperature for about 7 minutes.

Exactly one year ago I was rockin’ out with a mug of this stuff.  I was also saying things like “totally tubular!”  and “radical!”, wearing acid wash jeans, and hair-spraying my bangs into a tall wave across my forehead.  Ooooh 2008.

Banana Pudding Ice Cream. Rad, right?

I’ve been struggling for the past few hours with what to tell you in conjunction with these Blackberry Pie Bars.

I thought maybe we could talk about how I’m still totally dragging my feet about going to my ten year high school reunion.  No… that’s been done.  Boring.

Maybe we could talk about how I sat around a campfire with Andrea Zuckerman… a character from that show Beverly Hills 90210, but that was actually just a dream I had last night.  Not real.

We could chat about the weather?  Seen any good movies lately?

No?  Ok… let’s not fight this.

Let’s get on to the bars.  They’re good.  Really good.  Good enough to not need a silly introduction.

Think of these bars as your escape from the land of pie baking.  Maybe you don’t need an escape, but let’s be honest… putting together a pie crust can be a pain in the rear sometimes.  Problem solved.  Just press this crust into the bottom of a pan, top it with creamy fruit filling, sprinkle it with more crust bits and you’re in business.

The result is pure summer blackberry goodness.  The recipe includes directions for either frozen or fresh fruit.  If you’re using frozen berries, just be sure to defrost the berries and drain the excess juices.  What about raspberries or blueberries instead of blackberries?  Those would probably work too!  Just stay away from strawberries.

Blackberry Pie Bars with Lemon Sugar

adapted from The Pastry Queen

Print this recipe!

Crust and Topping

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into cubes

zest of two lemons

Blackberry Filling

4 large eggs

2 cups sugar

1 cup sour cream

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

pinch of salt

2  (16-ounce) packages frozen blackberries, defrosted and drained

(You can also use 6 cups of fresh blackberries, or 1 (16-ounce) package frozen blackberries and 3 cups of fresh blackberries)

To make the crust and topping-

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 9 x 13-inch backing pan with butter or cooking spray and set aside.  Zest two lemons.  Measure out the sugar onto a clean work surface.  Rub the lemon zest into the sugar with a bench scraper or the back of a spoon.  Rubbing the zest into the sugar will release oils from the zest and create a lemon scented sugar.

Combine lemon sugar, flour, salt and butter in an electric mixer fit with a paddle attachment.  Beat the ingredients on medium speed until the mixture looks dry and crumbly.

Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the crust mixture to use as the topping.  Press the remaining mixture into the bottom of the pan.  Bake the crust for 12 to 15 minutes until it is golden brown.  Let cool for 10 minutes while you make the filling.

To make the filling-

Whisk the eggs in a large bowl.  Add the sugar, sour cream, flour and salt.  Gently fold in the blackberries.  Spoon the mixture evenly over the crust.  You may have to distribute the blackberries evenly around.

Sprinkle the reserved crust mixture evenly over the filling.  Bake for 45 to 55 minutes until the top is lightly browned.  Cool for 1 hour before slicing.

**If you’re using frozen berries, be sure to defrost and drain the excess liquid.  Place the frozen berries on a plate in the refrigerator overnight.  They’re defrosted and ready for bar baking!

These bourbon laden treats were inspired by two things:  those still spring, but almost summer days that give you a hint at just how blazing hot this summer is going to be, and… this weekend’s Kentucky Derby.

Here’s what I know about Spring:

It’s green.  Once we get past the Easter Bunny stage, it’s all about blooming flowers and May showers.  Spring makes me feel like I’m in love with the world… probably because I am.

Here’s what I know about the Kentucky Derby:

Horses.  Hats.  Mint Juleps.

Here’s what I know about bourbon:

Dang, it’s good!

Here, for your Spring and Derby pleasure, are Mint Julep two ways.

The first is a classic Mint Julep cocktail.  If you’re from the South and think that somehow this recipe is not a classic version, then please accept my humble apologies as a native Californian.  This is the (ooooh so delicious) way I’ve had Mint Juleps foreva-eva-eva.

The second version is all of the Mint Julep fix-ins on watermelon cubes.  Brilliant, right?  So refreshing, so fun, and just the perfect way to get ready for the summer sun.

Mint Julep, the cocktail

makes 1 drink  adapted from Chow

Print this recipe!

• 3 sprigs fresh mint
• 1 teaspoon water
• 1 teaspoon superfine sugar
• 2 ounces bourbon
• club soda or filtered water
• sprinkle of powdered sugar

Muddle the leaves from two mint sprigs with teaspoons of water and sugar in a highball or collins glass.

Once the mint is bruised and the mixtures is super fragrant, fill the cup with ice cubes.  Pour in bourbon, and top with club soda or water and garnish with the remaining mint sprig and a sprinkle of powdered sugar.

Mint Julep, the watermelon

adapted from Gourmet May 2005

• 2 tablespoons bourbon or blended whiskey
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh mint plus 2 tablespoons whole small fresh mint leaves
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 small, seedless watermelon (about 2 pounds of diced watermelon, I just used a small mixing bowl full of diced melon)

Stir together bourbon, chopped mint, and sugar in a small bowl. Let stand 20 minutes (to allow flavors to develop).

Meanwhile, trim, peel, and dice a watermelon.  Place in a medium mixing bowl.  Pour bourbon mixture through a sieve onto watermelon. If you leave the chopped mint in the mixture, pour it all over the watermelon, and don’t serve it immediately, they’ll eventually turn brown and icky.  I learned the hard way.  Add whole mint leaves and gently toss to combine.  Place in the fridge to chill until serving.

Not every morning in my life is filled with Chocolate Chip Buttermilk Pancakes and Chocolate Chocolate Chip Banana Bread… not when things like my ten year class reunion and bathing suit season loom just around the corner.  For real friends, those are two scary things.  At least I don’t have to go to my ten year reunion in my bathing suit.  Can you imagine the horror!?   Yea… so there’s always a silver lining.

I’d like to introduce you to Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread.  If this bread were one of your dear friends from high school, it would be that friend who wore old lady shoes because they were the most practical, and played the trombone, and was the super smart editor of the school newspaper.  This bread would be the friend that was super sensible, and sweet and just downright made you feel good about your day.

Go ahead, think of this Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread as your friend… and then it eat.  No, there’s nothing weird about that.

This bread is packed full of happy, heart-healthy oats, cinnamon spice and crazy ripe bananas.  It’s just the thing to throw together over the weekend, slice up, wrap individually, and freeze for breakfast for the entire week.  I just grab a slice from the freezer as I’m running out the door, and by the time I have a chance to eat it, it’s perfectly defrosted.  Of course the microwave and toaster oven work wonders too.

Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread

adapted from the Weight Watchers site

Print this recipe!

makes 1 loaf  of  10 slices, 4 points per slice

- 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp  salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 3 tsp canola or walnut  oil
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 2 medium egg whites, beaten
- 3 large bananas, ripe
- 1 cup uncooked old fashioned oats

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease and flour a loaf pan and set aside. In a large bowl, stir together dry ingredients including the oats and cinnamon.

In a smaller bowl, mash bananas with a potato masher or fork. Add oil and whole egg and mix thoroughly.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well.  Batter will be fairly thick.

In a medium sized bowl, with an electric hand mixer, beat the egg whites until medium stiff peaks form.  Fold the egg whites into the batter in three additions.

Pour batter into pan and bake until top of loaf is firm to touch, 45 to 50 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes. Flip out and cool on a wire rack for another 10 minutes. Slice loaf into 10 equally sized slices.

I’ve figured out that most things in life… well, they completely surprise me.  As soon as I expect certainty, life has a way of galloping in with situations, opportunities and loves that I never could have imagined for myself.

Despite all of life’s uncertainties, I’m convinced that some things are set in stone.  Some things I’m just certain of.

I’m certain that I can throw back a box of Frosted Mini Wheats and happily call that dinner.

I’m certain that, before the week is finished, I’ll have spilled something juicy and red on my new favorite white shirt.

I’m certain that despite my nurturing personality and love of colorful flowerbeds, I’m destined to massacre every flowerbed I’m charged with caring for.

I’m certain that breakfast always tastes better served warm out of a cast iron skillet.

We wobble our way through most of life’s uncertainties.

Sometimes it just feels good to hold unto something certain, like the warm handle of a breakfast skillet filled with simmering berries and warm dumplings.  Yes.  Success.

Let me just say two small things to convince you that this recipe is worth your time:  warm berries and stove top dumplings.  Done and done right?  So easy you might just want to cry about it.

Berries and Dumplings have charm for days.  Why?  You can serve them for breakfast with a cold glass of milk before you send the kiddies off to school.  Or!  You can serve this dish with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream after Sunday supper.  Either way, you’re a royalty.  Facts are facts.

Warm Berries with Stove Top Dumplings

Martha Stewart

Print this recipe!

• 1 pound frozen mixed berries
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 6 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pie takes time.  Pie requires attentions.  Pie demands love and care.  Pie, even for an everyday baker like me, is a lost art.

I needed a good, old fashioned, pie contest to help me slow down, take a breath, and dream up the most delicious pie I could.

The most delicious thing I could dream up was this:  bananas, homemade peanut butter, chocolate, graham crackers, butter, whipped cream, and as much sugar as I could reasonably pack into a single pie dish…. and some chocolate shavings for good measure.

The result:  one mad Peanut Butter Banana Cream Pie.  The contest:  inspired by Whitney and several bottles of wine.  The contestants:  as serious about pie as they are about being incredibly fashionable and audaciously cool.  The competition:  stiff.  The winner:  one devastating, delicious and perfectly tart Key Lime Pie.

Did you need a use for you homemade Honey Roasted Peanut Butter?   I’m sure you found some toasted bread to enjoy it with.  Just in case you needed an over the top excuse to enjoy life just a bit more… here’s a pie that, while it may not win any pie contests, is sure to make life a whole hell of a lot sweeter.

You’ll need some homemade peanut butter, but if you’re not feeling that ambitious, the jarred stuff will work too.

You’ll need a graham cracker crust, melted chocolate, peanut butter, banana cream pie filling, fresh whipped cream and chocolate shavings.  Here’s how it all comes together.

Peanut Butter Banana Cream Pie

adapted from Martha Stewart, but mostly from me.

Print this recipe!

For the Crust:

1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

3 tablespoons sugar

pinch of salt

1/2 stick (4 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted

For the Chocolate Layer:

2 ounces of dark chocolate, melted over a double boiler

For the Peanut Butter Layer:

3/4 cup homemade peanut butter, or the jarred stuff, chunky or smooth as you see fit

For the Banana Layer:

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 large egg yolks

2 cups whole milk

2 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter

3 ripe bananas, thinly sliced

For the Whipped Cream Layer:

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

2 teaspoons powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

To make the crust, stir the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and salt together in a medium bowl.  Pour over the melted butter and stir until all of the dry ingredients are uniformly moist.  I use my fingers.  Turn the ingredients into a 9-inch pie pan and pat with your fingers to create an even layer of crumbs of the bottom and up the sides of the pie pan.

Put the pan in the freezer while you preheat the oven.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Once heated, place the pie crust on the center rack of the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes.  Remove from oven and set crust aside to cool.

For the chocolate layer, put two inches of water in a medium sauce pan, once simmering, place a larger bowl with the 2 ounces of chocolate in it over the simmering water.  Melt the chocolate in this double boiler situation.  Once cooled, pour into the baked graham cracker crust and spread around with a spatula.  Place in the refrigerator to cool and harden.

Prepare the peanut butter.  Once the chocolate is cooled, spread the peanut butter over the melted and hardened chocolate.

To prepare the banana filling, combine granulated sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a bowl. Add egg yolks, and whisk until smooth. Bring milk to a simmer in a saucepan over medium heat. Add 1/2 cup milk to yolk mixture in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly. Pour mixture into pan with hot milk, and cook, whisking constantly, until mixture begins to bubble and is very thick, about 6 minutes.  Make sure to keep an eye on this and whisk constantly over a low flame.  The cornstarch will make the mixture thicken quickly.

Pour milk mixture through a large-mesh sieve into a bowl. Add butter, and stir until melted. Fold in bananas. Pour into crust. Place plastic wrap directly on surface of filling to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Make the topping: Beat together cream, sugar, and vanilla until soft peaks form. Spread whipped cream over filling. Using a rubber spatula or the back of a spoon, shape topping into peaks.

Make chocolate shavings:  Carefully run a sharp knife along the back side of a dark chocolate bar towards yourself.  Quickly sprinkle the shavings on the top of the pie.  It’s that easy!

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

Print this recipe!

• 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