Pear and Cream Cheese Bundt Cake.

Bundt cakes are so beautiful. I love photographing them and of course eating them! I have the most fun when I get to style bundt cakes, also when I have to buy bundt pans it’s just very hard to resist the urge to buy all the variants. There are so many beautiful designs and sizes I just cannot stop myself. I have a mini collection of them though, I have three of them (I guess you can call them a collection :p) Well, moving on. The biggest fear I have when it comes to baking, I think this one tops the list, it is – ‘Taking a bundt cake out of it’s pan’ I mean, if that doesn’t freak you out oh boy. I would be lying if I said all my bundt cakes have come out perfectly from the pans. Cause they haven’t, a lot of times I have had half of the cake stuck to the bundt pan (cries), I mean the cake would still be delicious but somehow, something would go wrong and the cake would remain stuck. It is a terrible feeling, believe me. I think the only option is that you ensure you butter your bundt pan generously and properly, and flour it evenly, making sure that it reaches every corner, every indent and that you’re not leaving any place untouched. This is the only way, unless I come across a better method or if you happen to know any, please do share!

I also recommend that you do not use silicone moulds unless you are absolutely sure it is of good quality. I have used them and have observed that the cakes have a peculiar flavour/taste and aroma that is not very appetizing. But if you’ve used silicone before and have got satisfactory results then you can of course go ahead!

Speaking of this cake, it’s a pound cake, made in a bundt pan. It is inspired from this cake. A pound cake essentially is made by using a pound of sugar, flour, butter and eggs. Thus paying justice to it’s name. Nowadays any cake with a 1:1:1:1 measurement of flour, sugar, eggs and butter is called pound cake, but it is not ‘pound’ cake in literal sense. Hence I didn’t call this cake a pound cake. The Cream Cheese in the cake is a special ingredient which just makes the cake so incredibly soft and slightly tart, it imparts a wonderful flavour. The gingernut biscuit adds a new dimension to the cake and pairing them with pears just makes this cake so amazing, it’s a wonderful cake to take to a family gathering, a potluck, dinner party, brunch, you name it. If by any chance you do not have a bundt pan you can use any pan available to you that fits the batter comfortably and bake the cake.

Ingredients:

340 g soft unsalted butter

250 g cream cheese (room temperature)

350 g castor sugar/granulated white sugar

100 g brown sugar

6 eggs

1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

385 g all purpose flour

50 g crushed gingernut biscuits (recommended, but you can leave it out if you don’t have)

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 large pear (or 2 small) cut into bite sized pieces

2 tsp fresh lemon juice (to coat the pears)

Method:

1. Butter and flour a 10 inch bundt pan (roughly 12 cup bundt pan). Pre heat your oven to 175°C (check notes)
2. Wash and clean your pear/s, remove the skin and cut into small bite sized pieces, put them in a bowl and add the fresh lemon juice and stir to coat. Keep aside.
3. In a large bowl, sift all your flour, salt and baking powder. Keep aside.
4. In a separate bowl, preferrably large sized bowl, add your room temperature butter and cream cheese and using a hand held mixer or a stand mixer, beat until light and fluffy and there are no lumps of cream cheese. Add your sugars one by one and mix well.
5. Once incorporated, add your eggs one by one, mixing after each addition. Then add the vanilla extract and mix well.
6. Slowly add your dry ingredients and mix gently by hand, half way add your crushed up gingernut biscuits and prepared pears. Mix until just combined, do not over mix the batter.
7. Gently pour into the greased and floured bundt pan and bake at 175°C for roughly 1 hour (60 minutes). Begin to check after 55 minutes. (Check notes)
8. Once a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean, leave the cake to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15-20 minutes. Then remove from the pan and leave it to cool completely. Dust with icing sugar and serve!

Notes:

• Make sure your bundt pan is well greased and floured.
• If your bundt pan is dark coloured, reduce the temperature of the oven to 165°C and reduce baking time by 5-10 mins.
• You can avoid adding the gingernut biscuits if you don’t have them on hand.
• You can bake this cake in other types of cake moulds, three deep 9 inch cake tins should suffice.
• This is a large cake and it can serve around 12-13 people generously. If you want to make a smaller amount you may half the recipe, but use the appropriate cake pan according to the amount of your batter.
• To store the cake you can transfer it to an air tight container and refrigerate it for up to a week.

If you’re in the mood to try something new then this cake is definitely worth a shot. If you try it then don’t forget to give me your feedback. I appreciate it a lot! Also, Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram , Pinterest and Facebook to join our amazing food journey!

Love,

Bakesalotlady