Table Magazine’s longtime recipe writer Rhonda Schuldt shares a magnificent recipe for butter-free Pear Poundcake that works best with Asian pears, but can be made with any ripe pear variety.

There is something alluring and sensual about pears. Perhaps it’s their shape, symbolic of womanhood and fertility. Perhaps it’s because pears sit patiently next to apples, their popular cousins, the ones usually chosen for fall and winter consumption. Or perhaps it’s because, in the cold dark days of winter, pears provide a refreshing, juicy, and subtly sweet treat with honey and floral undertones that hint of summer days.

 

Members of the rose family, pears are not a native fruit. Most are from Europe, where for centuries the fruit was highly prized, cultivated on large estates, and relished by nobles. Passionate European colonists first introduced the pear to North America in the 1600s, where the luscious fruit was not grown for sale, but rather savored among the wealthy class, often given to honored guests and the subject for bonding among connoisseurs of the prized fruit.

 

Today, it’s not difficult to find European pears like Bartlett, Bosc, Anjou, and even the petite Seckel available to the masses. But what a delight to find crisp Asian varieties being grown in the U.S. - and by local Pennsylvania farmers! In addition to some smaller farms growing these tasty treats, one of the nation’s largest growers, Subarashii Kudamono, is located in eastern Pennsylvania and grows both traditional Asian pears, and their exclusive patented varieties. 

 

Crisp and juicy, squat and round, Asian pears are like a cross between a pear and an apple, with a unique texture all their own. Unlike European varieties that need to ripen for several days after harvest or cold storage, Asian pears are “ready to eat” as soon as they’re harvested and keep easily for several months.

 

Delicious on their own, Asian pears provide crisp balance on a cheese plate, delicious when tossed with fresh baby greens, shaved parmesan and vinaigrette, or mixed with apples for a twist on traditional apple pie. I especially like them (or any firm pear) in this simple recipe that is a delightful, healthful interpretation of pound cake.

 

Fresh Pear “Pound Cake”

The absence of butter makes this more sponge cake or sweet bread than a true pound cake. Adapted from a recipe by Subarashii Kudamono (wonderfulfruit.com)

One small pear (Asian or other), peeled, halved and cored then cut into ¼-inch slices

1 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

2 eggs

½ cup sugar

¼ cup milk

Honey (optional)

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and arrange pear slices on the bottom.

 

Mix together the remaining ingredients (except the honey) and beat for one minute. Pour mixture over the pear slices. Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown and spongy to the touch (a cake tester should come out clean).  

 

Remove from oven and while still warm, drizzle the top with honey, if desired.  Let the honey soak into the cake then turn out onto a wire cooling rack. 

  

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