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| Ginger Pear Loaf Cake |
We don't buy a ton of pre-packaged snacks in our house. A large part of this is because we don't have the pantry space for excessive amounts of chips and cookies, which I've mentioned before. Granted, you will always find at least one bag of tortilla chips and a few boxes of cereal on hand, but for the most part if we're snacking, we are snacking on something homemade. I'm not claiming that baked goods are healthy, far from it most of the time, but at least I know exactly what I'm putting in whatever I'm baking and I can pronounce the entire ingredient list, which is more than I can say for a lot of the things you'll find on grocery store shelves. I don't have the time to make homemade crackers or cheez-its week in and week out, but things like this loaf cake come together in mere minutes. I bake so often that I can practically do it in my sleep, measuring out flour, sugar, and spices, whisking wet and dry ingredients, pouring into a prepared pan, and before I know it there are alluring smells wafting from the kitchen.
This snack cake is far from extravagant. I'm willing to bet you already have most of the ingredients, except maybe the candied ginger. The base recipe is slightly sweet and yields a blank canvas perfect for incorporating your favorite mix-ins. I was partial to the pear and candied ginger, being that its both seasonal and a little nontraditional, but I could also see apples and walnuts or cranberries and pistachios also working nicely. I found the cake best the first two days after it had been made, and I'm willing to bet yours won't last much longer!
One Year Ago: Curried Butternut Squash Soup
Two Years Ago: Broccoli, Red Pepper, and Cheddar Chowder and Kale and Butternut Squash Saute
Three Years Ago: Pumpkin Popovers and Turkey Tacos
Ginger Pear Loaf Cake
Printer-Friendly Recipe
Ingredients:
-1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
-2 tsp baking powder
-1/2 tsp baking soda
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 cup sugar
-1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
-1/3 cup plus 2 tbsp buttermilk
-2 large eggs, at room temperature
-2 tsp pure vanilla extract
-1 large ripe pear, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped
-1 tbsp minced crystallized ginger
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the flour with the baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the sugar with the butter, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla. Use a wooden spoon to mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, then fold in the pears and the ginger.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean (loosely cover the top with foil in the last 15 minutes of cooking to prevent overbrowning).
5. Allow cake to cool in pan on a wire rack before inverting onto plate, slicing, and served. Store cake wrapped well in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Ingredients:
-1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
-2 tsp baking powder
-1/2 tsp baking soda
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 cup sugar
-1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
-1/3 cup plus 2 tbsp buttermilk
-2 large eggs, at room temperature
-2 tsp pure vanilla extract
-1 large ripe pear, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped
-1 tbsp minced crystallized ginger
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the flour with the baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the sugar with the butter, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla. Use a wooden spoon to mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, then fold in the pears and the ginger.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean (loosely cover the top with foil in the last 15 minutes of cooking to prevent overbrowning).
5. Allow cake to cool in pan on a wire rack before inverting onto plate, slicing, and served. Store cake wrapped well in the fridge for up to 3 days.
