This whole grain cake is made with freshly picked pears and graham flour, both of which I needed to use up. If you can’t locate Graham flour, you can substitute whole wheat flour because it also gives some really delicious nutty, honeyed overtones.
| Prep Time: | 25 mins |
| Cook Time: | 25 mins |
| Additional Time: | 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr |
| Servings: | 10 |
| Yield: | 1 large 9-inch cake |
Ingredients
- 3 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- ¼ cup dark brown sugar
- 3 pears – peeled, cored, and sliced
- 1 ½ cups graham flour
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup packed dark brown sugar
- ¼ cup grapeseed oil
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup whole milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9-inch pan with 2-inch sides and line the bottom with a round of parchment paper.
- Add butter pieces to the pan. Place in the preheating oven until melted. Sprinkle brown sugar on top. Arrange sliced pears in a circular pattern over the butter and brown sugar. Set aside.
- Whisk graham flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, salt, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl.
- Combine butter, brown sugar, oil, and honey in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add eggs and vanilla extract; beat for 1 minute. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk; beat briefly after each addition.
- Pour batter carefully over the pears. Smooth the top.
- Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool cake for 10 minutes. Invert onto a wire rack and peel off parchment paper. Allow to cool completely.
- Graham flour is a coarsely ground whole wheat flour. I use the Bob’s Red Mill(R) brand.
- If you don’t have a 9-inch pan with 2-inch sides, fill your pan 3/4 of the way and bake any remaining batter as muffins.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 432 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 54 g |
| Cholesterol | 93 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Protein | 7 g |
| Saturated Fat | 10 g |
| Sodium | 429 mg |
| Sugars | 26 g |
| Fat | 22 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
The recipe was very easy to follow and the results were a visual pleasure and spectacular taste. I opted to toast and add hazelnuts and decorate the top. I baked my cake in a 9 x 2“ chicken pot pie dish from Pottery Avenue. The cake lifted out so smoothly on top of my cake stand. I couldn’t have asked for anything more! I wasn’t sure what gram flour was so I put graham crackers in my food processor and used that And held back some of the brown sugar.