SAFFRON
PEAR CAKE

A butter cake infused with the flavor of saffron and embedded with pear slices.

Instruction to prepare :

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Melt the butter in a small bowl in the microwave, or in a small saucepan. If you’re using raw saffron threads, then go ahead and warm the milk too, then add the saffron threads to this mixture to dissolve. Otherwise, simply combine the milk with the melted butter in a small bowl.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg and sugar together until it’s pale yellow. Whisk in the melted butter and milk.
3. Add the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt; whisk to combine.
4. Spray the saffron spray 4 to 5 times (holding the nozzle down for a couple of seconds each time) directly into the batter and whisk. You want the batter to change from its pale yellow color to a slightly darker orange-ish yellow.
5. Line the bottom of a 6 inch cake pan with parchment paper and grease the paper and sides of the pan. Pour the batter into the pan.
6. Bake the cake for 10 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, grab the pear half whose stem is still intact, and carefully make vertical cuts through the pear, starting just a little bit below the stem (you want the pear slices to remain connected to the stem). Gently fan out the slices.
8. Pull the cakes out of the oven after the 10 minutes are up and place the fanned out pear slices off to one side. Then put the cake back in the oven to bake for another 25 to 30 minutes, until the cake springs back to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
9. Let the cake slightly cool in the pan for 10 minutes before gently flipping it out of the pan. Brush the cake with the warm preserves and let the cake rest until it’s completely cool.

Ingredients

1. ½ cup unsalted butter
2. 1/3 cup milk
3. 1 egg
4. ¾ cup sugar
5. 1cup all-purpose flour
6. 1 tsp baking powder
7. 1/8 tsp salt
8. 4 to 5 spritzes of Saffron Spray or .25 mg saffron threads
9. 1 bosc pear keeping the stem intact, peeled, cored, and cut in half
10. ¼ cup marmalade or apricot preserves to brush on as a glaze slightly warmed

Course Dessert
Cuisine German/French
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings 6
Calories 359 kcal