1/2 c Blanched whole almonds
4 tb Unsalted butter; melted,
-plus
9 tb Unsalted butter; softened
1/2 c Packed brown sugar
1 ts Ground cinnamon
1/2 ts Ground ginger
1/2 ts Ground allspice
1/2 ts Ground cloves
2 tb Light corn syrup
3 Pears; peeled, cored,
; and halved
1 1/2 c Pastry flour
3/4 c Granulated sugar
3/4 ts Baking powder
1/4 ts Baking soda
1/2 ts Salt
1/2 c Sour cream
3 lg Egg yolks
1 ts Vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the almonds on a baking sheet and
toast, shaking the pan occasionally, until lightly golden, 15 to 20
minutes. Set aside to cool. Turn the oven temperature down to 325 degrees.
Stir together the melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, allspice,
cloves and corn syrup and evenly coat the bottom and sides of a 10-inch
glass pie plate with the mixture. When the almonds are cool, arrange around
the bottom rim of the pie plate, with a few in the center, pressing them
into the brown sugar mixture. Arrange the pear halves like spokes of a
wheel on top of the brown sugar mixture. In a mixing bowl, combine the
pastry flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt and
thoroughly mix. In another bowl, whisk together the softened butter, sour
cream, egg yolks and vanilla. Add to the dry ingredients and mix with an
electric mixer at medium speed about 1 1/2 minutes, scraping down the sides
of the bowl occasionally, until thick and smooth. Using a spatula, spread
the batter evenly over the fruit, building up the outside edges so the cake
will be level when baked. Bake 40 to 50 minutes, until golden-brown and a
tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a rack and cool
3 to 5 minutes (no longer) and then invert onto a serving plate,
repositioning the fruit as necessary. This recipe yields 8 servings.
Yields
8 servings