Buttermilk Spice Cake with Pear Compote and Crème Fraîche
A delicate buttermilk cake flavored with warm spices like allspice, ginger, and star anise, served with a tender pear compote and rich crème fraîche. The cake's subtle spices complement the lime-scented pear compote for an elegant dessert.
Ingredients
- •2 tablespoons sugar
- •1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- •¼ teaspoon salt
- •3 whole Bosc pears
- •1 cup all purpose flour
- •¼ cup cornstarch
- •½ teaspoon salt
- •½ teaspoon baking powder
- •¼ teaspoon baking soda
- •⅛ teaspoon ground allspice
- •⅛ teaspoon ground ginger
- •⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
- •⅛ teaspoon ground star anise
- •½ cup unsalted butter
- •¾ cup sugar
- •2 whole eggs
- •1 piece vanilla bean
- •¼ teaspoon lime peel
- •¾ cup buttermilk
- •¼ cup powdered sugar
- •1½ cups crème fraîche
Cooking Instructions
- 1.
Mix sugar, lime juice, and salt in heavy large saucepan. Add pears and toss gently to coat. Cover and cook over medium-low heat until pears are just tender, stirring occasionally, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer mixture to bowl. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Chill until cold, then cover and keep chilled.
12 min
- 2.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour 9-inch-diameter cake pan with 2-inch-high sides; line pan with round of parchment paper. Sift first 9 ingredients into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until fluffy. Gradually add sugar, beating until smooth. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, beating to blend between additions. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean and add lime peel; beat to blend. Beat in flour mixture in 4 additions alternately with buttermilk in 3 additions, scraping down bowl occasionally. Transfer batter to prepared pan.
15 min
- 3.
Bake cake until beginning to brown on top and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool cake in pan on cooling rack. DO AHEAD: Cake can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.
30 min
- 4.
Cut around pan sides to loosen cake. Turn cake out onto rack; peel off parchment and turn right side up onto platter. Sift powdered sugar over. Cut into wedges. Serve with pear compote and dollop of crème fraîche.
5 min
- 5.
A brown, star-shaped seedpod that's available in the spice section of some supermarkets and at specialty foods stores and Asian markets.
- 6.
** Available at most supermarkets and at specialty foods stores.
