Description:
This elegant almond cake is paired with lightly poached pears and served with a velvety creme anglaise, combining nutty and fruity flavors for a sophisticated dessert.
Cooking Equipment Needed:
- Oven Round cake pan Saucepan Mixing bowls Whisk
Ingredients:
- 1 cup almond flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ripe pears, peeled, cored, and sliced
For the creme anglaise:
1 cup heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
Cooking Time:
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
Cooking Steps:
Prepare Cake: Preheat the oven to 350F (175C). Grease and flour a round cake pan. In a bowl, mix together almond flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. Cream Butter and Sugar: In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla extract.
Combine Mixtures: Gradually fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
Add Pears: Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan, arrange pear slices over the batter, then top with the remaining batter. Bake: Bake in the preheated oven for about 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Make creme Anglaise: While the cake bakes, heat cream and vanilla bean (scraped seeds and pod) in a saucepan until hot but not boiling. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg yolks and sugar. Gradually whisk in hot cream mixture. Return mixture to the saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat, strain, and cool.
Serve: Slice the cake and serve with warm or chilled creme anglaise.
