Pear and Bittersweet Chocolate Cake

I'm so tired of typing. My fingers are exhausted from plunking away all afternoon on my laptop. You see, I've been writing a paper for one of my nursing courses and I can't do it anymore. But I'll suffer a few minutes longer to get in a few words about this recipe. I've been making a lot of fruit desserts lately. It's my thing. But rarely do I get to combine fresh fruit and chocolate! That's what caught my eye about this dish. A dessert that uses ripe juicy pears and rich dark chocolate. Perfect.

The directions for this cake are a bit fussier than typical. You have to whip the eggs to just the right consistency, meanwhile browning the butter, and then add all the ingredients together in a methodical and timely manner. It's not a difficult process, just one that required focus. And please, read through the entire recipe before you begin. If I could offer you some advise about cooking, it is this: always pre-read, and then re-read, the recipe. Ingredients and/or instructions can be a lot more complicated or somewhat different than they appear at first glance. This is a good example of how a little pre-reading will pay off. You won't get the same result if you don't plan ahead.

This cake is somewhat magical in that when it goes into the oven the pears and chocolate chunks are sitting on top. When it comes out of the oven they have been consumed by an expanding cake batter and are hidden out of sight. Of course when you slice into the soft center the tender bits of pear and gooey melted chocolate will reappear! Add a dusting of powdered sugar and a scoop of vanilla ice cream and dessert is served!

INGREDIENTS
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
3 eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
3 pears/ peeled and diced (Bosc or Bartlett recommended)
3/4 cup bittersweet  (60% cacao) chocolate chunks (I used Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips)

powdered sugar, for garnish
vanilla ice cream, for serving (or lightly sweetened whipped heavy cream)

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter and flour a 9-inch round springform pan.

2. In a small bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, (using an electric mixer with the whisk attachment), whip the eggs until pale and very thick. (This will take about 8 or 9 minutes in a Kitchen Aid to achieve sufficient volume.)

4. Meanwhile, brown the butter in a medium saucepan. Melt the butter over medium heat and continue cooking it, stirring frequently, until it turns brown and smells nutty. (This will take about 6 to 8 minutes.) Remove from the heat but keep warm.

5. Add the sugar to the eggs and whip for a few minutes more.

6. Just as the egg-sugar mixture begins to lose volume, turn the mixture down to stir and add the flour mixture and brown butter. Start with a third of the flour mixture, then half of the butter, another third of the flour , the other half of the butter, and the remaining flour. Whisk until just barely combined (no more than 1 minute from when the first flour is added). Use a spatula to finish folding the ingredients until just barely combined. (Over-mixing the batter will cause it to lose volume.)

7. Pour batter into the prepared springform pan. Sprinkle the pear and chocolate chunks over top.

8. Bake in preheated oven for about 50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Dust with powdered sugar and serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped heavy cream.

Serves 8.

(Adapted from Smitten Kitchen)