Spiced poached pears

We made this in my last canning class of 2011. It is a mixture of several recipes. This will make enough for 7 pints.

3 quarts water
6 C turbinado sugar
1 vanilla bean, split
2 sticks cinnamon
2 oranges, 7 slices of peeling set aside, the rest zested
11 pears, not soft ones

In a large pot, mix the water and sugar. Scrape the vanilla seeds into the pot and then add the pod. Add the cinnamon and orange zest. You can add the juice of the orange, too, if you'd like.

Peel, core, and slice the pears into 1/4" thickness. Add them to the pot. Simmer for around 20-25 minutes, or until the pears are tender.

Spoon the pears into pint jars, add enough of the cooking liquid to leave a 1/2" head space. Process for 25 minutes.

**We opened these last night, warmed them up a bit, and served them with vanilla ice cream. Heaven in your mouth.

Pear Bread GF,DF

We are really concentrating on being gluten-free for the next few weeks. I found this recipe on a gluten-fee blog. I was trying to find something nice for breakfast and a way to use up a couple of pears from the box this week.

Ingredients

1½ cups superfine brown rice flour, plus more for dusting the pan
½ cup tapioca (or corn or potato) starch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
1 1/3 cup sugar
½ cup grapeseed (or other neutral flavored) oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 ripe pears, peeled cored and grated
1 cup walnuts, chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 inch by 5 inch loaf pan with gluten-free non-stick cooking spray, add some brown rice flour and shift it back and forth in order to spread the flour evenly around the pan, tap out the excess flour.
In a large mixing bowl whisk together the 1½ cups brown rice flour, tapioca starch, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. In another mixing bowl whisk together the eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir to combine. Add the pears and walnuts and pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 60 – 70 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.

**of course, the house smelled amazing as it cooked. I cut the sugar back a bit (couldn't help myself- it seemed like sooo much), but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. It slipped out of the pan well. I cooked it for 60 minutes- but the middle seems a little wet- it could have gone for another 5-8 minutes. Delicious! I'll be making this again.

Jewish Apple Cake

I'm not sure where I copied this recipe from. I wrote "yummy" beside it the last time I made it. Part of the description reads, "Dense and moist, crammed with sweet cinnamony fruit, this popular cake is thought to come from the rich tradition of baked goods of German or Alsatian Jews."

Serves 10-12

3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into small slices
3 Bartlett pears, ripe but firm, peeled, cored, and cut into small slices
1 T cinnamon
2 1/4 C sugar
3 C flour
1 t salt
1 T baking powder
1 C vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 t vanilla
1 t almond extract
1/4 C apple cider or apple juice

Preheat oven to 375. Butter a deep 10" bundt pan or angel food cake pan.

In a large bowl, combine the apples, pears, and cinnamon and 1/4 C of the sugar. Mix well and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, the remaining 2 C sugar, the salt and the baking pwder. Mix thoroughly, then make a well in the middle of the mixture.
Pour the oil, eggs, vanilla, almond extract, and cider into the well, then mix the batter until it is well blended and smooth. The batter will be very stiff.
Spoon one third of the batter into the pan. Spoon half the fruit mixture over the batter; take care that the fruit does not touch the sides or inner ring of the pan. Spoon another third of the batter over the fruit. Spoon the remaining fruit over the batter them spread the remaining batter over the fruit.
Bake for 65-75 minutes, until the cake is firm and nicely browned. Allow the cake to cool in the pan, then unmold onto a serving plate.

**Delicious. I used 2/3 C less of the sugar because the apples we are getting from LPO are sweet. I used water instead of apple cider. I used organic safflower oil. I cut the slices of fruit in half. I didn't add the almond extract (although next time I will).

Bosc Pear- Gingerbread Cake

I can't remember where I got this recipe. I cut it out of an Albuquerque magazine over the holidays. I chose it because I wanted to use up my leftover bosc pears from the other week.

1/2 C, plus 1/4 C butter
1 C packed brown sugar
3 Bosc pears, peeled, cored, thinly sliced*
1 egg
1/4 C molasses*
1 1/2 C flour*
2 t ginger
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t nutmeg
1/4 t clove
1/3 C hot water

* I used 4 pears, unsulphered molasses, and spelt flour.

Preheat oven to 350.
In a saucepan, combine 1/4 C butter and 1/2 C brown sugar and slowly heat until sugar melts. Add pears and simmer until soft, then transfer to a nine-inch cake pan, covering the bottom of the pan.
Combine and sift all dry ingredients.
With an electric mixer on high speed, beat 1/2 C butter and 1/2 C brown sugar together until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg and molasses and beat for another minute.
Slowly add sifted ingredients and water, alternating three times until batter just comes together. Ladle batter over pars and bake about 35 minutes.
Let cool for 5 minutes and turn over onto serving plate.
Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

**Very nice and easy to make. The sharpness of the ginger is a nice contrast to the brown sugar sauce that caramelizes.  (the sauce is a bit runny on top once you turn the cake over) We ate it without the cream.