Healthier Hurricane Pear Coffee Cake
I adapted this from the Pear Coffee cake recipe on Allrecipies. I emphasize the healthier here as I can’t in good conscience call something with a cup and a half or sugar and a cup of oil simply healthy. But this really is an improvement from the original and it turned out perfect. I reduced the sugar by one half cup and the oil by ¼ cup. I replaced ¼ cup of flour with ½ cup flaxseed meal (I’ve used the Bob’s Red Mill brand I bought at Trader Joe’s). Instead of the typical flaked coconut which is loaded with sugar I’ve used an unsweetened coconut powder that I purchased at local Queens Indian grocer. The flax and the coconut powder combine to give a nice nutty taste which I often miss in cakes because I’m allergic to tree nuts.
The pears I used were from our CSA and they were still quite firm, though not as hard as when we got them 5 days ago. They were the perfect texture for the cake because very ripe pears would not have held their shape as nicely as these did. This recipe would be a great use for anyone with a pear tree that probably has many slightly ripe pears knocked down by the hurricaine:) Since I live in an apartment, and thus no pear tree, this is my hurricance coffee cake because I was stuck in my apartment with those CSA pears! The cake has made it worth it
1 and ¾ Cup unbleached all-purpose flour
½ Cup Flaxseed Meal
1 and ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 and ½ cup sugar
1 and ¼ cup canola oil
3 eggs
1 cup unsweetened coconut powder
3 cups pears, peeled, cored, and chopped
Powdered sugar for dusting
Preheat oven to 325 F. Butter and flour a bundt cake pan. Prepare the pears and set aside. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside. In the bowl of a mixer combine the sugar and canola oil. Cream on high speed for 2 min. Reduce the speed to medium. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce speed to low and gradually add in dry ingredients until completely incorporated. Stir in the pears and coconut powder by hand. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour and 30 min. Allow to cool in pan on cooling rack for 20 minutes. Slide butter knife gently around edges of cake to help loosten edges of cake from pan. Invert pan onto cooling rack. Dust with powdered sugar.
I adapted this from the Pear Coffee cake recipe on Allrecipies. I emphasize the healthier here as I can’t in good conscience call something with a cup and a half or sugar and a cup of oil simply healthy. But this really is an improvement from the original and it turned out perfect. I reduced the sugar by one half cup and the oil by ¼ cup. I replaced ¼ cup of flour with ½ cup flaxseed meal (I’ve used the Bob’s Red Mill brand I bought at Trader Joe’s). Instead of the typical flaked coconut which is loaded with sugar I’ve used an unsweetened coconut powder that I purchased at local Queens Indian grocer. The flax and the coconut powder combine to give a nice nutty taste which I often miss in cakes because I’m allergic to tree nuts.
The pears I used were from our CSA and they were still quite firm, though not as hard as when we got them 5 days ago. They were the perfect texture for the cake because very ripe pears would not have held their shape as nicely as these did. This recipe would be a great use for anyone with a pear tree that probably has many slightly ripe pears knocked down by the hurricaine:) Since I live in an apartment, and thus no pear tree, this is my hurricance coffee cake because I was stuck in my apartment with those CSA pears! The cake has made it worth it
1 and ¾ Cup unbleached all-purpose flour
½ Cup Flaxseed Meal
1 and ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 and ½ cup sugar
1 and ¼ cup canola oil
3 eggs
1 cup unsweetened coconut powder
3 cups pears, peeled, cored, and chopped
Powdered sugar for dusting
Preheat oven to 325 F. Butter and flour a bundt cake pan. Prepare the pears and set aside. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside. In the bowl of a mixer combine the sugar and canola oil. Cream on high speed for 2 min. Reduce the speed to medium. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce speed to low and gradually add in dry ingredients until completely incorporated. Stir in the pears and coconut powder by hand. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour and 30 min. Allow to cool in pan on cooling rack for 20 minutes. Slide butter knife gently around edges of cake to help loosten edges of cake from pan. Invert pan onto cooling rack. Dust with powdered sugar.
