”What is better than a slice of homemade Pear cake on a cold and rainy Monday in Treviso?”
Asked Deborah, my friend and now collaborator on Inspired in Italy. We have teamed up to bring you all Authentic Italian Recipes on Inspired. We will post an Italian recipe, could be a traditional ricetta passed down from nonni ( grandparents) to nonni or could be something with a modern twist.
Lately, the weather in Treviso has been nothing like Spring BUT more like Autumn. The chill and crisp morning air lasts throughout the day with heavy rain and wind.. So, Deborah asked “What could be better than a slice of homemade pear cake on this cold and dreary Monday?” That sounded absolutely divine.
And so she made a pear cake using very few ingredients and with this recipe there are many variations if you can’t have eggs or don’t want to use butter.
You can use whichever size baking dish you’d like. If you use a bigger or longer dish, just know that the cake will come out lower and if you use narrow or smaller the cake will come out taller.
Deborah used a glass baking dish 24 cm.
And now you will see just how simple it is to bring Italy to your home too 🙂
TORTA ALLE PERE INGREDIENTI ( INGRIDENTS)Â
- 2 Abate or Kaiser Pears – Mature but not over done
- 1 cup of milk- room temp or 2 whole eggs at room temp
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- 1 1/2 Â cup of All purpose flour
- 3 TBSP of Olive oil or 3TBSP of butter
- 8 grams of baking powder
- Salt and Cinnamon
PROCEDIMENTO ( PREPARE)Â
- If you are going to use eggs, take them out of the refrigerator at least 1 hour before as they’ll need to be at room temp for this torta.
- Butter cake pan well  and set aside.
-  Before I start preparing the cake, I set the oven to 390F/200C so that when the batter  is ready I can put the cake directly into the oven.
- Keep in mind that it will take you around 20 minutes to prepare the batter.
- Wash the pears, and slice into dices – see photo for reference. ( A little advice- don’t cut the pears any earlier because they will turn brown and will lose their water, if you would like you can add some fresh lemon juice to the peeled and diced pears)
- In a different bowl, put the two eggs, add the sugar, and mix with a fork or a whisk well.
- Add the melted butter ( I put the butter in the microwave for a few seconds)
- Add a pinch of cinnamon and a pinch of salt .
- Add the flour step by step with a spoon
- If the batter is too dense, add a drop or two or milk
- Add the baking powder
- Lastly, add in the pears ( be sure to do so gently so they do not break.
- Put in the oven at 200C/390 F after 10 minutes reduce the temperature to 180C/350F
- Bake for another 30 minutes or until the cake is golden brown or like the color of honey.
- Make sure it is cooked through by testing it with a toothpick. Once the toothpick is clean, let the cake cool before placing it on a cake platter AND if you’d like sprinkle powdered sugar on top.
In Italy, we enjoy this TORTA for breakfast or as snack in the afternoon with tea, coffee, milk ect..
If you make this cake, we would LOVE to see your photos of it. Please send us your photo on Inspired in Italy Facebook page or at inspiredinitaly@gmail.com and we will share your photo and comments on the blog. We would be delighted to see that you were able to Bring Italy into your home.
ECCO QUA LA RICETTA IN ITALIANOÂ
XOXO
