He-Man Spiced Pear Cake

Oh my, this Spiced Pear Cake recipe I just tried today is heavenly!   I modified the original recipe from FishMama/Life as Mom to be gluten-free and lower glycemic (instructions below) to accommodate our personal health needs, and it turned out FAB!  I've renamed this recipe "He-Man Spiced Pear Cake" because it's robust and aromatically spicy, rather than sickly sweet--oh I don't know--it's just a hearty "guy" kind of cake!   :)

I made it to thank my hubby Steve for dealing with the auto body shop this whole past week as someone caused me a fender bender recently and my sweet man immediately charged right in and took over like a white knight in getting my car fixed for me.  I was totally amazed that he knew just how to handle all the details of the repairs and insurance and I was so grateful as even though I don't mind a life challenge to grow as a person, the whole ordeal exhausted me and I freely admit that I'd rather hang out here  since I'm not much of an "auto body shop/noisy stinky places/let's camp out on dirt with bugs" kinda gal!"  But seriously, my handy hubs gets a big kick out of helping me with these things, so go figure--as long as I bake him cakes and answer him tactfully when he asks me, "Does this shirt go with these pants, honey?!, we're a yin/yang match made in marital heaven, ha!

Well anyway, here's the cake recipe!

He-Man Spiced Pear Cake

Prep time 10-15 minutes.  Bake time approx. 35 minutes.

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used Namaste gluten-free Perfect Flour Blend)
1 t. baking powder (I used aluminum-free)
1 t. lemon or orange zest (I used orange; I think either or a combo would be good)
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1/4 t. salt (I used sea salt from Costco)
1/4 t. ground nutmeg
1/4 t. ground ginger
1 stick melted butter (I get organic butter cheap at Costco)
3/4 cup white sugar (I used coconut sugar or try stevia powder for lower glycemic options)
2 large eggs ( I buy organic eggs cheap at Costco)
1 t. vanilla  (I use alcohol-free)
1 large pear, cored and sliced in thin slices, with skin on  (I think apple slices would work great too)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9 inch springform pan. (I used my 9x9 Corning Ware baking dish.)  In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, zest, 1/4 t. cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and ginger.  In another large mixing bowl cream together the butter and 3/4 cup sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs and blend in vanilla.  Mix with the flour mixture.  Do not overmix.  Place the batter in the greased pan and lay slices of pear artfully on top.  Sprinkle pears with a small combined mixture of cinnamon and sugar.

Bake the cake for about 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out basically clean, with only a few crumbs attached.  Loosen cake from side of the pan with a knife.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Extra yum with an espresso, hot tea, or your favorite java brew flavor!  Add a small scoop of frozen yogurt and you've died and gone to pear cake heaven!  :)

One other suggestion I have is to double the recipe and put it in a 9x13 inch cake pan.  And I saved two slices for us for dinner tonight and froze the rest in "two slices to a container" portions for future dinners at home together.
  
Happy "he-man" baking! 
Kathryn :)