Buttery fall pears, chunky
walnuts, sour cream … Is your
mouth watering yet?
With these ingredients, Stephanie
Hurt of Greencastle, Indiana, baked
a cake for her town’s 1999 Heritage
Fair Baker’s Challenge and garnered
first place in the cake division. “Pearfect”
for breakfast, coffee break, or
dessert, it will bring praises galore
from your own tough judges.
This cake is one of over 50 recipes
that appear in the premier issue of
the new Better Homes and Gardens®
Hometown Cooking
™ magazine.
Eve.ry issue will showcase the bestof-
the-best recipes from hometown
cookbooks across America, along
with the delightful people who share
the recipes. For a subscription, tum
to the mail-in card after page 272.
264
For extra “wow ‘add whipped
cream, edible fluwers fresh fig, and
fresh bay leaves to each serving.
Prep: 30 min. Bake: 55 min.
1 cup broken walnuts
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
114 cup butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 medium pears, peeled, cored,
and sliced (about 2 cups)
2
13/4
3/4
1/2
l/4
112
1
tsp. lemon juice
cups all-purpose flour
tsp. baking powder
tsp. baking soda
tsp. salt
cup butter, softened
cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1 8-oz. carton dairy our er am
1/2 cup broken walnuts (optional)
Preheat oven to 350°. Grea e ?
9-inch springfonn pan or 9x9x2-incl
baking pan. ombine the 1 cup nuts
brown sugar and cinnamon. Fo1
topping, cut the 1/4 cup butter int
1/3 cup flour to make coarse crumb
Stir in 3/4 cup of the nut mixture. Se1
nut mixture and topping aside.
Tos pears with lemon juice; set
a ide. In a medium bowl combine
the 1 ¾ cups flour, baking powder
soda, and alt· et aside. In a large
bowl beat 112 cup butter with electric
mixer 30 second . Beat in granulated
sugar and vanilla. Add eggs, one at a
time, beating well after each. Add
flour mixture and sour cream alternately
to batter. Beat on low speed
after each addition until combined. l
Spread two-thirds batter into th
prepared pan. Sprinkle with reserved
nut mixture. Layer pears over top.
Gently spread remaining batter o r
pears. Sprinkle with reserved topping.
Bake 10 minutes. For a chunk
top, sprinkle with ½ cup more nuts.
Bake 45 to 50 minutes mbre or until
a wooden toothpick inserted in the
center comes out clean. Cool in pari
on a rack 10 minutes. Remo e side oi
springform pan if using. Cool at
least 1 hour. Serve , arm with
whipped cream if desired. erves 12.
utriti<m fo.cts per serving: 96 cal.1
23 g total fat (10 . sat. fat 5 mg
chol. 260 mg sodium 45 g carbo.:
2 g fiber and 5 g pro. ft
u .. ndf- p();I) l,J $ {.,<..,?’
BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS, OCTOP.E 19 ?
Walnut-Pear Sour Cream Cake
1 cup broken walnuts
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 / 4 cup butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 medium pears, peeled, cored, and sliced (about 2 cups)
2 tsp. lemon juice
I 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
I cup granulated sugar
I tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
8 oz container sour cream
1/2 cup broken walnuts ( optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch
springfo rm pan or 9x9x2 inch baking pan. (I used a
bunt pan last time and it turned out great. It was
pretty too! The cake didn’t cook really well in the
middle when I used the springfm m pan.) Combine the
I-cup nuts, brown sugar, and cinnamon. For topping, cut
the 1/4-cup butter into 1/3-cup flour to make coarse
crumbs. Stir in 3/4 cup of the nut mixture. Set nut
mixture and topping aside.
Toss pears with lemon juice; set aside. In a medium
bowl combine the I 3/4 cups flour, baking powder,
baking soda and salt; set aside. In a large bowl beat
1/2-cup butter with electric mixer 30 seconds. Beat
in granulated sugar and vanilla. Add eggs, one at a
time, beating well after each. Add flour mixture and
sour cream alternately to batter. Beat on low speed
after each addition until combined.
Spread two-thirds of the batter into the prepared pan.
Sprinkle with reserved nut mixture. Layer pears over
top. Gently spread remaining batter over pears.
Sprinkle with reserved topping. Bake IO minutes. For
a chunky top, sprinkle with 1/2 cup more nuts. Bake
45 to 50 minutes more or until a wooden toothpick
inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan
on a rack IO minutes. Remove side of springfo rm pan,
if using. Cool at least I hour. Serve warm with
whipped cream, if desired. Serves 12.
If you use a bunt pan, start checking
for <loneness with a toothpick at around 45 minutes,
whether or not you do the two step-baking thing with
adding more nuts.