Juicy Pear Sheet Cake with Streusel (Birnenkuchen vom Blech mit Streuseln)

Ingredients

For the batter

• 250 g soft butter, plus a little extra for greasing
• 200 g Sugar
• 1 packet Vanilla sugar
• 1 pinch Salt
• 4 pcs Eggs, size M, room temperature
• 350 g Flour, Type 405
• 1 packet Baking powder, approx. 16 g
• 100 ml Milk
• 1 pc Organic lemon, only the grated zest

For the topping

• 1,2 kg ripe but firm pears, e.g. Williams Christ or Conference, approx. 6-7 pears
• 2 tbsp Lemon juice

For the cinnamon streusel

• 200 g Flour
• 120 g Sugar
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• 1 pinch Salt
• 120 g cold butter, in small pieces

Alternative to the streusel: almond-cinnamon topping

• 80 g Flaked almonds
• 3 tbsp Sugar
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• 40 g melted butter, cooled

For dusting

• 2 tbsp icing sugar, to taste

Equipment

• Baking tray (approx. 30 x 40 cm)
• Baking paper
• Mixing bowl
• Hand mixer or stand mixer
• Vegetable peeler
• Small knife
• Dough scraper

Instructions

Preparation

1. 1.
   Preheat the oven to 180 °C conventional (top/bottom heat) (fan oven: 160 °C).
2. 2.
   Line a baking tray with baking paper or grease it.
3. 3.
   Peel the pears, quarter them, remove the cores and cut into wedges about 1 cm thick.
4. 4.
   Toss the pear wedges with the lemon juice right away so they don't turn brown.

Make the crumble topping

1. 5.
   Mix the flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt in a bowl.
2. 6.
   Add the cold butter and knead with your fingers into coarse crumbles.
3. 7.
   Keep the crumble topping chilled until you need it.
4. 8.
   If you'd like the alternative: mix the flaked almonds, sugar, cinnamon and melted butter in a bowl and set aside.

Make the batter

1. 9.
   Beat the soft butter with the sugar, vanilla sugar and salt until creamy.
2. 10.
   Add the eggs one at a time, mixing each in for about 30 seconds.
3. 11.
   Stir in the lemon zest.
4. 12.
   Mix the flour and baking powder and briefly stir in alternately with the milk until you have a smooth batter.
5. 13.
   Spread the batter evenly on the baking tray.

<p>Topping and Baking</p>

1. 14.
   Arrange the pear wedges closely next to each other on the batter and press down lightly.
2. 15.
   Evenly scatter either the cinnamon crumble or the almond-cinnamon topping over the pears.
3. 16.
   Bake the cake on the middle rack for about 40-45 minutes until golden brown.
4. 17.
   Poke a wooden skewer into the batter (skewer test): no raw batter should stick to it.
5. 18.
   If the surface gets too dark, cover it with baking paper for the last 10 minutes.

Cooling and Serving

1. 19.
   Let the cake cool on the tray for about 30 minutes.
2. 20.
   Dust with icing sugar to taste and cut into about 20 pieces.