No partridge, but Pear Cake with its chunks of fresh pears is super-yummy

Our pears are emerging by the basketfuls now. When we go out to pick them, we no longer bring in just a handful, but our little straw basket (that once sat on my mother’s hearth to contain her sewing projects and now is our gathering basket as we approach our garden) brims when we return. Usually, at that point, the pears are too hard to carve into, so for several days we house them in a plain brown paper bag until they ripen.

In my cookbook, Way Back in the Country Garden, I included a Pear Cake recipe that always has been a favorite. A neighbor’s gift of a sack of fresh pears from his farm once inspired me to find this recipe for this cake, which freezes extremely well. Now having pears from our own garden, I baked two loaves: one to serve recently when my brother- and sister-in-law visited and another to take with me as a hostess gift on our recent trip to Colorado.

The cake, with its 3 cups chopped pears, is hugely moist. The cinnamon, cloves, and allspice make it spicy and good. After I took the baked cake from its loaf pan, I poured an optional Brown-Sugar Pear Glaze atop it. The pear syrup for which the glaze recipe specifies I obtained by mashing a small amount of reserved pear slices until 2 tablespoons of pear puree formed. The cake is moist enough without the glaze, but I'll have to say that the glaze as a topping is a pure delight.

No partridge, but a wonderful pear tree that is giving us its beautiful gifts to enjoy ourselves and to share with others.

Pear Cake

3 cups chopped pears

2 cups sugar (or sugar substitute)

1 cup canola oil

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 eggs (or 1/2 cup egg substitute)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground allspice

2 teaspoons soda

1 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1 cup pecans, chopped

Mix first three ingredients; let stand for one hour. Beat eggs and add them to pear mixture. Sift all dry ingredients together and add to pear mixture. Add chopped pecans. Pour into greased and floured tube pan or two loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. If desired prepare Brown-Sugar Pear Glaze (below) and pour on top of the loaves.

Brown-Sugar Pear Glaze

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons pear syrup (can be obtained by mashing up a few pear slices until it forms a liquid puree)

1/4 cup brown sugar (or 1/8 cup brown-sugar substitute)

1/3 cup sifted powdered sugar

Melt butter; stir in pear syrup and brown sugar. Bring just to a boil. Stir in powdered sugar. Boil for 1 minute. Pour over Pear Cake loaves that have been removed from their baking pans and cooled.