Spiced Pear Muffins + Cake

Today I want to tell you about what I brought to Chapel Hill for breakfast on Saturday morning.  This recipe is so good that I have made it in two different formats since Friday.

The recipe comes from The Kitchn and in its original form it is for muffins, spiced pear ones to be exact.  They are one of the best things I can remember baking.  The blend of spices, the juicy, just-coming-into-season pears, a combination of whole wheat and regular flour, and a crispy cap of cinnamon sugar bake up into a muffin that is even better than it sounds. Apparently they can be made in advance and frozen for months to be reheated at will, which is a possibility I may just have to explore.

Seriously...make these

With the day off on Monday I had a little time on my hands and an idea kicking around my head to turn these muffins into a cake and so I did. I made the exact same recipe and added a half cup of pecans.  I then poured it into a buttered 9-inch round baking pan lined with parchment on the bottom and baked it according the same instructions as the muffins, keeping an eye on it every 10 minutes or so, until a toothpick came out clean.  I don't remember the exact baking time though I think it was in the ballpark of 25-30 minutes.

 

The rest went into work with Greg - I couldn't be trusted...

Once the cake had cooled completely, I flipped it out of the pan and frosted it with a simple cream cheese frosting, recipe courtesy of the indomitable Martha Stewart, and added pecans for garnish.  It was the ideal dessert for Monday's chilly weather.

Whatever format you choose, I hope you will try this recipe soon.  Twice is not enough for me!  Another suggested addition is crystallized ginger, which is one of my favorite baking ingredients, so I think another iteration is just around the corner...