Pear torte

With Christmas so soon after Thanksgiving this year, I’m all for shortcuts. This pear torte, winter’s variation on Marian Burros’s justifiably famous plum torte, is just the ticket this holiday season.

A moist, tender cake topped with soft pears and a sparkle of sugar, it’s a winner dessert: easy but impressively pretty, buttery but not heavy. It’s also durable enough to bake ahead, giving us cooks the priceless gift of time.

In busy days it’s a relief to count on old standbys. The ingredients of this cake are so elementary, you can put it together with hardly a glance at the recipe. With peaches in summer, Italian plums in fall or succulent pears in winter, this recipe never disappoints.

Stick of butter, 3/4 cup sugar (plus pinch of salt if your butter is unsalted).

Two eggs.

One cup of flour, one teaspoon of baking powder.

Spread batter evenly in pan.

Pear slices on top. Pretty is not my strong suit, but overlapping pear slices is simple enough even for me.

Sprinkle of sugar and nutmeg.

I love it when something looks harder than it really is. Mine looks kind of dorky still in its cake pan, but those of you with springform pans can bow modestly to the applause as you present your beautifully unmolded torte.

Funny thing, but the absence of vanilla is what makes this so special. It’s the utter simplicity of buttery cake and soft, sweet fruit.

I think I like pear and nutmeg even better than the original plum and cinnamon. But maybe that’s the genius of this recipe: each season’s version seems better than the last.

Holiday recipes

I realize that I don’t have typical holiday main dishes here, even though we do the ham-and-roast thing here in Ohio (I’m too fried during Christmas to document food). But I do have brunch, sides and sweets that may come in handy.

Brunch

• 90-minute cinnamon rolls [post] [printable]
• Bacon in the oven [post] [printable]
• Dried fruit cream scones [post 1] [post 2] [printable]
• Egg, cheese and sausage strata (breakfast casserole) [post] [printable]

Sweets

• Candied walnuts (or pecans) [post] [printable]
• Cinnamony apple crisp [post] [printable]
• Derby pie [post] [printable]
• Flourless oatmeal lace cookies [post] [printable]
• Gingerbread cake [post] [printable]
• Hot fudge sauce [post] [printable]
• Kettle corn [post] [printable]
• Pecan pie (no corn syrup) [post] [printable]

Side dishes

• Arugula, pear and parmesan salad [post] [printable]
• Broccoli salad with Greek yogurt, cranberries and almonds [post] [printable]
• Fennel, orange and avocado salad [post] [printable]
• Green beans with feta and balsamic vinegar [post] [printable]
• Kale, quinoa and apple salad [post] [printable]
• Kale salad with cranberries and toasted walnuts [post] [printable]
• Quinoa with sweet potatoes, red pepper and feta [post] [printable]
• Roasted butternut squash [post] [printable]
• Roasted cauliflower with parmesan and olives [post] [printable]
• Roasted fennel with parmesan [post] [printable]
• Roasted potatoes with garlic and lemon [post] [printable]

Best wishes for a magical, delicious holiday season!

Pear Torte
A variation on Marian Burros’s famous plum torte recipe – buttery perfection, lovely to look at and simple to make. By popular request, it was published annually in the New York Times from 1981 until its official retirement in 2005.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup unbleached flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• Pinch of salt (if using unsalted butter)
• 2 large or 3 medium pears, ripe but firm (Bosc or Anjou are good choices; Bartlett won’t hold shape when cooked)
• 1 tablespoon sugar and sprinkle of nutmeg, for topping

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a springform (8, 9 or 10 inches) or cake pan.
2. Cream sugar and butter in a bowl. Add eggs and beat well. Add flour, baking powder, salt, and mix thoroughly.
3. Peel pears and cut in half lengthwise. Cut half again and trim out core in each section. Slice thinly.
4. Spoon the batter into prepared pan. Place pear slices, one overlapping the next, on top of the batter, forming circles from the outer edge of the pan toward the center. Sprinkle lightly with sugar and nutmeg.
5. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool to lukewarm, and serve.

Makes 8 servings.

Notes

• Bake a day ahead and store at room temperature. Reheat gently in a low oven if you like.
• To freeze, double-wrap the torte in foil, place in a plastic bag, and seal. Defrost and serve at room temperature, or warm in 300 degree F oven before serving.
• Marian and Lois’s apple-cranberry version: in place of pears, use three medium apples, peeled, cored, sliced into 1/2 inch slices (tossed with lemon juice if you like) and 1/3 cup dried cranberries, soaked in hot water (some to sprinkle on top and rest added to batter). Arrange apple slices, overlapping slightly, forming circles from the outer edge of the pan toward the center. Mix 2-3 tablespoons of sugar with 1-2 teaspoons ground cinnamon; sprinkle on top of apples.
• Try peaches, apricots or berries in the summer. Use a sprinkle of cinnamon instead of nutmeg if you prefer.
• You can also add vanilla or almond extract. But use sparingly, as the extracts tend to detract from the buttery taste of the cake.

Here’s the link to a printable version.