The Duo Dishes

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Why You Love Fall Mornings

November 16, 2009 · 26 Comments

Pear Walnut Coffee Cake - Duo Dishes

Well good morning.  How are you?  We have coffee cake.  Surely you want some?  Surely.  Somewhere up there with fluffy biscuits, creamy vegetable tarts, and Southern shrimp and grits, there’s coffee cake as one of the most desirable breakfast dishes.  Imagine waking up to this on a cool morning.  Brew up a mug of coffee, tea or hot chocolate, and you’re ready to eat.  This was actually made for a dinner party where the theme was ‘breakfast’.  Breakfast for dinner.  Let’s all just admit that breakfast for dinner is always a great idea.  Why do you think people love going to Ihop for pancakes late at night?  For this dinner party, everyone had to supply a traditional morning platter, and this is something that rides the line between bread and dessert.  We sat down to an asparagus and potato frittata, roasted potatoes speckled with hearty turkey sausage and fresh watermelon and pineapple with cream.  This coffee cake was a great way to end it all, but there’s no reason why it won’t be baked again for a future fall morning.

There are no horns tooted here.  Never.  But, we must say that this coffee cake was the best thing ever in the world.  So good that we’re going to adapt a version for the Eat My Blog bake sale. The cake was unbelievably moist and fluffy, dotted with flecks of lemon zest for zing.  The crumble topping was full of spices that dance on the tongue, but it has a nice crunch from the walnuts.  The wheat germ was our way of boosting the nutty undertone and tossing in a few more nutrients, although you could easily omit it.  You could also try this with another firm fruit like crisp apples, use peanuts in the crumble and create a funky peanut butter apple coffee cake.  The options are endless!

Let’s see who won the POM Variety Pack, shall we? That would be: Tim W. Congrats to you! You’ll get an email shortly, so expect a box of healthy goodness on your doorstep soon enough. Thanks again to POM Wonderful for sponsoring this giveaway!

Pear and Walnut Coffee Cake – Serves 10 to 12
Cake
1 3/4 cups flour, plus extra for the pan
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Zest of 2 lemons, minced
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp, plus extra for the pan
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
Juice of 1/2 lemon
3 pears, peeled and diced

Topping
1 cup walnuts, chopped and toasted
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons wheat germ
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

1. Start topping by putting brown sugar, spices, flour, wheat germ, nuts and butter in a food processor. Blend down until crumbly. Cover and place in fridge to keep cold.

2. Grease a 10” springform pan with butter, then lightly dust with flour and tap out the excess. Set aside. Toss pears with lemon juice and set aside.

3. With an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar and lemon zest for cake batter until fluffy, approximately 3-5 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Starting with sour cream, alternately add to cake batter along with dry ingredients until just combined.

5. Pour cake batter into the prepared pan. Top pears and sprinkle crumble topping over the fruit.

6. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool in pan for at least 20-25 minutes before serving.

Click HERE for the printable recipe.

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Categories: Breakfast · Cakes, Pies and Tarts · Nuts
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