Pear and hazelnut cake

Fantastic pear and hazelnut cake made with brown butter. The addition of brown butter gives the cake an even more pronounced nutty flavour and a wonderful aroma :). Topped with a crunchy cinnamon crumble with hazelnuts. Moist, with juicy pears. Simply wonderful.

Ingredients for the hazelnut crumble:

• ¼ cup (60 g) butter, cut into cubes
• ⅓ cup caster sugar
• ⅓ cup soft brown sugar
• ¼ cup (40 g) plain flour
• ½ cup hazelnuts, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• a pinch of salt

Place the butter, both sugars, plain flour, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. Rub together with your fingertips until the mixture resembles crumble. Add the chopped hazelnuts and briefly mix together. Chill in the fridge.

Ingredients for the cake:

• ½ cup (120 g) butter, divided into 90 g and 30 g
• ¾ cup caster sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 cups (300 g) plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ¾ cup buttermilk/kefir
• a pinch of salt
• 3 small, juicy pears

All the ingredients should be at room temperature.

Peel the pears, cut them in half, remove the cores and slice thinly.

Prepare the brown butter: place 90 g of butter in a small saucepan and heat slowly over a medium heat. The butter will begin to foam – continue heating for a few minutes, stirring from time to time, until the butter turns brown and a sediment forms on the bottom of the pan (taking care not to burn it). The butter should have a nutty aroma. Remove from the heat and leave to cool to room temperature.

Place the brown butter, the remaining 30 g of butter and the sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until combined. Sift the plain flour and baking powder directly into the mixture and add the salt, then pour in the buttermilk. Mix with a spatula just until the ingredients are combined, no longer.

Line the bottom of a 25 cm springform tin with baking paper. Transfer the batter to the tin and smooth the surface. Arrange the pear slices on top, overlapping them slightly, and sprinkle with the prepared hazelnut crumble.

Bake the pear and hazelnut cake at 180°C for approximately 45–50 minutes, or longer if necessary, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Before serving, you can dust with additional icing sugar.

Enjoy!

Recipe source: bsweetdessertboutique.com