Pear and Caramel Bundt Cake

by cakeduchess on February 15, 2011 · 57 comments

I have crushed on certain celebrities. When I was younger, it was Prince and Madonna. I also sort of liked Chad Lowe. Yes, Chad Lowe.

I even once wrote him a fan letter. It went something like this: “Dear Chad, I think you’re really cute. Please write me back. Love, Your Favorite Fan”

Pitiful or hopeless romantic? A little pitiful. Gosh, I’m so embarrassed!

I checked my mail every day. For months. Alas, no return letter. Ever. I was crushed by my crush. I lost all faith in Chad and then moved onto his older brother Rob. I didn’t dare write him a letter. My mom told me to not waste my time on frivolous celebrities.

Years after my crush, I ran into Rob at a local restaurant. He was with his wife and kids. Those blue eyes; my husband had to hold me back from rushing the table to get an autograph.

Now that I’m more wise and mature, I crush on baking ingredients. Like these gorgeous Caramel Bits! They are all mine and I can do whatever I want with them. Forget celebrities.

The caramel pieces melt just fine and nestle perfectly in this moist and buttery buttermilk batter. I only added 1/2 cup of the Caramel Bits. You could add more. You could even melt and drizzle some on top!had to please my main crush and he prefers a sprinkle of powdered sugar on top. Winking smile

The Limoncello is made by my mother-in-law. I smuggled it back last summer from Italy. Lemon or orange juice could work just fine instead.

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Pear and Caramel Bundt

yields: approximately 10-12 slices

1 cup cake flour
1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 tablespoon Limoncello or juice of 1 lemon
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 ripe Anjou pears peel and core-cut into small chunks
1/2 cup Caramel Bits *(you could add more if you like)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Add your cut pears to a medium sized bowl with the Limoncello or lemon juice. Stir around and let sit while you do the other cake parts. Grease Bundt pan or 9-inch round cake pan and dust it with flour. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flours, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a large mixing bowl, on medium-high speed beat the sugar and butter together until nice and fluffy (approximately 3-4 minutes.)

Change the mixer to low speed and beat in each egg, one at a time. After you add each egg in, stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of bowl with a spatula. Stir in the flour and the buttermilk. With mixer on low speed, mix in 1/3 of the flour. Mix in 1/2 the buttermilk. Mix in another 1/3 of flour mixture. Add the rest of the buttermilk. Mix in the rest of the flour until combined. Fold in the pears and the Caramel Bits.

Scrape out the batter into your prepared pan. Smooth out the top with a spatula. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Invert the cake onto your serving platter. Some Caramel Bits may stick to the sides of the pan.

Dust generously with powdered sugar when completely cool.

My friend Mateja from Indulging Life gave me a lovely award the other day. Thank you for thinking of me Mateja! Smile

Do you like to Facebook? If you do, say “CIAO” to me over there! If you want to know where I really spend all my time (shhh! Please don’t tell my hubby!), then come on over here to Twitter! Winking smile