Make it Snazzy: April 2014

Hi All! So, this blog has turned into more of a sporadic landing place for my crafts and things, and I think I like it that way. Less pressure. Today I bring you my latest Happy Baking Accident - Parrot Cake.

No, not this guy.

Don't worry, despite my well documented aversion to birds, you won't be spitting feathers. The title comes from my failure to properly enunciate "Pear Cake," and the misunderstanding led to a much more interesting title (as well as many insensitive jokes about bits of crushed beak, the cake having glorious plumage, teaching it to say "HELLO," etc.), and so it was re-christened Parrot Cake. In reality, Parrot Cake is a spiced pear cake that is delicious when served piping hot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream as well as cooled with a cup of coffee or tea. I've only made it once, and didn't take photos of the process, but I will be making it again soon and will document it properly. It was too yummy a cake to wait any longer before sharing the recipe with you. So, here it is:

Parrot Cake

Prep Time - 30 min
Bake Time - 50 min
Yield - 12-16 servings

Ingredients:
3 C all purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 C unsalted butter (softened)
1 C granulated sugar
3/4 C light brown sugar
4 eggs (large)
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
6 oz cream cheese
3 Tbsp 2% milk
2 large pears cut into small chunks (approx 2 C)
About 1 Tbsp salted butter

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350° F.

Generously smear the salted butter around your bundt pan so it is well greased. Discard remaining salted butter.

In a medium bowl, add flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, and salt. Whisk together (or use a fork) until mixture is evenly combined. Set mixture aside.

With an electric mixer, beat unsalted butter, brown sugar, and sugar together until creamed (light and fluffy). One at a time, add your eggs. Be sure to mix well after each egg. Add vanilla extract and mix. Add cream cheese and milk and mix until evenly combined.

Reduce your mixer to low and add the flour & spices mixture gradually. Mix until evenly combined. With a spatula, fold in your pear chunks until evenly distributed.

Pour the finished batter into the prepared bundt pan. Use your spatula to make sure the batter is evenly spread around the pan.

Bake 50 min, or until a pointy stick comes out clean (I use a chopstick - I think it adds a bit of worldliness to my dish) To remove from pan, I use my super special two plate trick. First, gently take a knife and slide it around the outside edge of the pan to release the cake. Place a large plate on top of your finished cake and flip it over. Then, take a second plate (your serving plate) and put it on top of your cake on a plate. Gently but with firm support, hold the cake between the two plates and flip it over so it ends up on your serving plate, bumpy side up. (Did that make sense? I will post photos eventually.)