Win Cake

I had another dinner to go to so I decided to re-try the whole "baking a cake" thing. It couldn't have come at a better time, because I really wanted to try this recipe but I was a little anxious because I hate pears - good thing my friends don't mind acting as guinea pigs for my baking experiments! This one turned out great, so great that I was still wishing I hadn't left the uneaten half at their place a week later. Definitely a keeper.

This is one recipe where I have to admit that you will want a KitchenAid or electric beaters, as my weakling human arms couldn't get the eggs beaten quite well enough, not to mention that they were killing me after a few minutes.

Torta di Pere [Bittersweet Chocolate and Pear Cake]
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, at room-temperature
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
3 pears, peeled, in a small dice
3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chunks

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and dust with breadcrumbs; set aside. [I just buttered it]

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together, set aside. Using a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the eggs on high speed until pale and very thick.

While the eggs are whipping, brown the butter. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and cook it until the butter browns and smells nutty (about 6 to 8 minutes). It helps to frequently scrape the solids off the bottom of the pan in the last couple minutes to ensure even browning. Remove from the heat but keep in a warm spot.

Add the sugar to the eggs and whip a few minutes more. Just as the egg-sugar mixture is starting to loose volume, turn the mixture down to stir, and add the flour mixture and brown butter. Add one third of the flour mixture, then half of the butter, a third of the flour, the remaining butter, and the rest of flour. Whisk until just barely combined — no more than a minute from when the flour is first added — and then use a spatula to gently fold the batter until the ingredients are combined. It is very important not to over-whisk or fold the batter or it will lose volume.

Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle the pear and chocolate chunks over the top, and bake until the cake is golden brown and springs back to the touch, about 40 to 50 minutes, or a tester comes out clean.