Sunken Pear Cake with Cinnamon Sugar

Ingredients

For the pan

• 1 tbsp Butter, for greasing
• 2 tbsp Breadcrumbs, for dusting

For the batter

• 200 g Butter, softened, at room temperature
• 180 g Sugar
• 1 packet Vanilla sugar
• 1 pinch Salt
• 4 pcs Eggs, size M, at room temperature
• 1/2 pc Organic lemon, zest only, finely grated
• 250 g Flour, type 405
• 2 tsp Baking powder
• 3 tbsp Milk

For the topping

• 4-5 pcs Pears, ripe but firm, approx. 800 g, e.g. Williams Christ or Conference
• 1 tbsp Lemon juice
• 2 tbsp Flaked almonds
• 1 tbsp Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Cinnamon

For dusting

• 1 tbsp Icing sugar, optional

Equipment

• Springform pan (26 cm diameter)
• Hand mixer or stand mixer
• Mixing bowl
• Small paring knife
• Teaspoon for coring
• Cooling rack

Instructions

Preparation

1. 1.
   Preheat the oven to 175 °C conventional (top/bottom heat).
2. 2.
   Grease the springform pan with butter and dust with breadcrumbs.
3. 3.
   Peel and halve the pears and remove the cores with a teaspoon.
4. 4.
   Drizzle the pear halves with lemon juice right away so they don't turn brown.
5. 5.
   Lightly score the rounded side of the pear halves lengthwise several times with a knife, without cutting all the way through.

Make the batter

1. 6.
   Beat the soft butter with the sugar, vanilla sugar and salt using a hand mixer for 3-4 minutes until creamy.
2. 7.
   Stir in the eggs one at a time, mixing each egg in for about 30 seconds.
3. 8.
   Stir in the lemon zest.
4. 9.
   Mix the flour and baking powder and briefly stir it in, alternating with the milk, until you have a smooth batter.

Baking

1. 10.
   Pour the batter into the prepared springform pan and smooth the top.
2. 11.
   Arrange the pear halves in a circle on the batter with the scored side facing up and press them in lightly.
3. 12.
   Mix the sugar with the cinnamon and sprinkle it over the pears.
4. 13.
   Scatter the flaked almonds over the batter between the pears.
5. 14.
   Bake the cake on the middle rack for 50-55 minutes. Insert a wooden skewer into the batter: it should come out clean.
6. 15.
   If the surface gets too dark, loosely cover the cake with aluminium foil for the last 15 minutes.

Cool and serve

1. 16.
   Let the cake rest in the pan for about 10 minutes, then loosen the edge.
2. 17.
   Let it cool completely on a cooling rack.
3. 18.
   Dust with icing sugar before serving, if you like.