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Pear Spice Cake
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Pear Spice Cake
Prep Time
30 mins
Cook Time
35 mins
Total Time
1 hr 5 mins
 
A slice of Fall, this cake has all the flavors of comfort.
Author: Jackie
Ingredients
Spice Cake
  • 2 ½ cups flour preferably cake flour but all-purpose flour will work
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon ground allspice
  • ½ teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
  • 2 cups dark brown sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 cup buttermilk
Pear Filling
  • 3 pears peeled cored and diced
  • ½ tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • ⅓ cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 tablespoon corn starch
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
  • ½ cup butter softened
  • 8 ounces cream cheese
  • 4 cups confectioners' sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Salted Caramel Sauce
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 6 tablespoons salted butter room temperature
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 3 seven inch or 2 nine inch cake pans with nonstick cooking spray.
  2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and spices.
  3. In the bowl of your mixer beat together butter and brown sugar for 4 minutes.
  4. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing thoroughly before each addition.
  5. Mix in vanilla.
  6. Alternatively add flour mixture and buttermilk to the butter/egg mixture, in 3 batches. Careful to not over mix.
  7. Divide batter into pans evenly, and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a knife is inserted and comes out clean.
  8. Cool cakes in pans for 10 minutes then invert on a rack to remove cake layers from pans and allow to cool completely.
To make the pear filling-
  1. In a sauce pan, add diced pears and lemon juice. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally.
  2. In a separate bowl, combine remaining ingredients and whisk to combine.
  3. Pour over pears, and stir constantly until sauce thickens, approximately 2 minutes.
  4. Set aside and cool completely.
To make the Salted Caramel-
  1. In a small sauce pan combine butter, sugar, and cream over medium heat, stirring constantly.
  2. Cook until mixture is a caramel color and coats the back of a spoon, about 6-8 minutes.
  3. Remove from heat and stir in salt and vanilla.
  4. If desired, carefully dip a pear into the caramel and place on a greased baking sheet to set.
  5. Allow to cool completely before using.
  6. Once cake is completely cool, make frosting-
To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter and beat on medium until smooth, 30 seconds to 1 minute.
  1. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla, and beat on medium, scraping down the bowl and beaters as necessary, until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
To assemble the cake-
  1. Beginning with first layer, top with a thin layer of frosting, a layer of pears, and a drizzle of caramel. Top with next cake layer and repeat.
  2. Frost the outside of the cake with remaining frosting then drizzle the caramel and flaked sea salt. Top with caramel pear if desired.
  3. Caramel and pear filling can be made up to 3 days in advance.