Pear-walnut-chocolate-cake

This is probably the last autumn recipe I will post, since Winter is approaching and it's only one month till Christmas!!! I think pears, walnuts, and chocolate is one of those divine combinations like seasoned cheese and honey, dried figs and philadelphia, strawberries and balsamic vinegar, etc... And as kid, when we went skiing on weekends, I remember we always used to order a cake like this one. So it's one of those tastes I never forgot since childhood and will always love and associate to cold days.

Ingredients:

100 gr. butter

100 gr. sugar

2 eggs

250 gr. flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 pinch of salt

6 tbsp milk

2 medium pears

100 gr. walnuts

Chocolate for the frosting

Method:

Beat the sugar and butter till fluffy. Add the yolks and beat. Separately beat the egg whites till stiff and keep them aside. Add to your first mixture the salt, baking powder, flour. When it has a sandy consistency add the milk and yolks and beat until smooth. Now add the pears cut in small pieces and the ground walnuts (keep some whole ones for decoration). Spoon the batter in a cake mould and bake at 180•C for 40 minutes.

Melt the chocolate and when the cake has cooled cover it. Before the chocolate dries add your decoration to it. Don't worry if it's not perfectly covered or evenly decorated; the rustic home-made look makes it even more delicious!

Enjoy ♥

Martina

This cake I made was offered to our customers at Doll's Vis a Vis and et the end of the day this is all there was left of it! I'm very glad to know that people appreciate my baking :) thank you.

My hungry stomach moans: crrrrrrrr...umble! With pears & chocolate

Did you know that:

• There are over 3000 varieties of pears grown around the world.
• Pears are native to Asia and Europe. The first pear tree was planted in North America in 1620.
• Pears are a member of the rose family.
• In the Odyssey, Homer called the pear a "gift from the Gods."
• The Chinese considered the pear, which they call "li," to be a symbol of immortality. The destruction of a pear tree symbolized tragic or untimely death.
• In Chinese, fen li means both "to share a pear" and "to separate." Therefore, it is considered bad luck in China to share a pear because it may lead to separation of friends or lovers.
• Before tobacco was introduced in Europe, pear leaves were smoked.
• The Bartlett is the most popular variety of pear in the United States. In Europe, the Bartlett is known as the Williams. It got its American name when a Bostonian named Enoch Bartlett bought a pear orchard and, not knowing the pears already had a name, began distributing them as Bartlett pears.
• You can use them as an alternative to apples to bake a delicious crumble!

Ingredients:

for the crumble topping

225 gr. plain or wholewheat flour

75 gr. butter at room temperature

75g - 110g brown sugar

for the filling

900g of pears

chocolate chips

What to do:

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Peel, chop, and place the pears into a casserole dish and spinkle over the chocolate chips then prepare the crumble topping. Put the flour into a large mixing bowl and add the butter. Rub the flour and butter together until it looks crumbly and the butter has been evenly dispersed through the flour. Add the sugar and mix together to ensure that everything is combined. Sprinkle the crumble topping evenly over the top of the pears using a fork to even out the distribution but don't press it down. Cook in the oven for 20 - 30 minutes until lightly golden brown. Let it cool for a while then sprinkle some powdered sugar and enjoy with a glass of chocolate milk.

♥ Martina ♥