My mum gave me a recipe that tastes fantastic. You should give it a try. Those who have tried it have nothing but praise for it. Ideal if prepared a day or many hours in advance.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 40 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 10 mins |
| Servings: | 16 |
| Yield: | 1 to 9 – layer inch cake |
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 2 cups white sugar
- 5 egg yolks
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup pear preserves
- 5 egg whites
- 3 cups white sugar
- 1 ½ cups milk
- 1 ½ cups white sugar
- ¾ cup butter, softened
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour 3 (9 inch) pans. Sift together 2 1/2 cups flour, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg; set aside. Toss pecans in 1/2 cup flour; set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together 1 cup butter and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the yolks one at a time. Dissolve baking soda in buttermilk. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Fold in the pecan mixture and the pear preserves.
- In a large glass or metal mixing bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold 1/3 of the whites into the batter, then quickly fold in remaining whites until no streaks remain. Pour batter into prepared pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
- Make Frosting: In a large saucepan, combine 3 cups sugar and milk. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside. Place remaining 1 1/2 cup sugar in a cast iron skillet, cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until sugar dissolves and becomes a golden syrup. Remove from heat and carefully stir in butter. Gradually pour syrup mixture into milk mixture in saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture reaches soft ball stage (240 degrees F/ 115 degrees C). Remove from heat and beat at medium speed of electric mixture for about 5 minutes or until thick enough to spread. Spread immediately on cooled cake.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 721 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 116 g |
| Cholesterol | 120 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 7 g |
| Saturated Fat | 14 g |
| Sodium | 274 mg |
| Sugars | 93 g |
| Fat | 27 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Sorry I’m not able to show pic! Have to get my daughter over to help me do that!! I made the cake “exactly” as written. I put the batter in 3 ceramic loaf pans (like Temptations on QVC!) I baked for 35 minutes and they were a real golden brown on top and sides. Pretty moist on the inside. Tasted delicious and reminds me of something for a Thanksgiving breakfast or lunch. I didn’t ice but will use a powdered sugar drizzle on one I have frozen. But the cake stands by itself and is very good. Next time I’ll bake in a bunt pan!
Didn’t taste the Pear’s (which was OK for me as I don’t like pear’s), I didn’t use much icing on it and I kinda wish I had… Will make again, only next time I will actually put the icing on the cake.
Recipe correction – I am new to baking and did not know this. When making the frosting, the recipe states it should be of soft ball consistency. You should take a spoon and drip frosting into a glass of water to check consistency. I didn’t know this and over cooked the icing. Other than that, the cake was really good. The icing is not really required. Although I did enjoy breaking my icing and eating it like candy. LOL.
I love this recipe, it needs no adjustments. I made this cake using my own homemade pear preserves and served it at my family reunion. I will make this again and again (or at least until I am out of homemade pear preserves and have to can more) and it is printed and in my recipe book to be baked for years to come 🙂 I serve the cake topped with vanilla glaze and decorated with a handful of candy corn. Thank you for sharing.
Pretty unremarkable. Has a good texture, but the flavors don’t stand out at all, other than sweetness from the icing. Will not make again.
I did this cake in a bundt pan and drizzled/frosted with maple icing (aka easy penuche frosting). The absolute best harvest time cake/dessert I’ve made in years!!! Nice change from all the apple dishes this time of year. Wonderful recipe!! If you use the bundt pan though, you’re gonna have to add at least 15 minutes to the cooking time.
This was a delicious spice cake with good texture from the pears and pecans. I did not make this a layer cake with icing, I made a bundt and omitted the icing completely as I think it would have been way too sweet for my tastes. I used spiced pears so I cut back the spices just a tad (used about 3/4 tsp per spice) and the flavor was perfect!
Great cake! It is fluffy and light (so beat the sugar and the butter really good). Instead of making the carmel sauce, I found a recipe for cream cheese glaze and drizzled that on. Will make again since we have three pear trees!