Buttermilk Cake with Riesling-Poached Pears

By BobD

"We get these crazy organic pears that are ugly as sin," says Tory Miller of the Moon-glow variety he uses throughout the cold winter months. Peeling them, though, reveals a fruit so beautiful and juicy that he prefers a minimalist approach, either serving them raw or poaching them in wine, such as the Riesling he uses here.

Ingredients

• 2 cups cake flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 4 large egg yolks
• Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup buttermilk
• 5 Bartlett pears
• One 750-milliliter bottle Riesling
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
• One 3-inch-long strip of orange zest
• 3 star anise pods
• 1 cup crème fraîche
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
• 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

Details

Servings 10
Cooking time 100mins
Adapted from foodandwine.com

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter a 9-inch cake pan and line it with a 9-inch round of parchment paper. Butter the parchment paper.

In a bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, using a handheld mixer, beat the butter with both sugars at medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add the yolks, one at a time, beating well between additions. Beat in the lemon zest and vanilla extract. At low speed, alternately beat in the flour mixture and the buttermilk until almost blended. With a rubber spatula, finish folding the mixture together just until smooth. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 35 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer the cake to a rack to cool completely.

Peel and halve the pears. With a spoon, scoop out the cores and discard. In a large saucepan, combine the Riesling, water, sugar, vanilla bean and seeds, orange zest and star anise pods. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the pear halves and simmer over moderate heat, turning once, until tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer the pears to a large plate. Discard the star anise, vanilla bean and orange zest. Boil the Riesling poaching liquid over high heat until reduced to 1 cup and syrupy, about 15 minutes. When the pears have cooled, slice them lengthwise 1/3 inch thick.

In a small bowl, combine the crème fraîche, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds and confectioners' sugar.

Unmold the cake onto a plate and peel off the paper. Cut the cake into 10 wedges and transfer to plates. Place a sliced pear half alongside each cake slice. Spoon some of the Riesling syrup over the cake, top with some vanilla crème fraîche and serve.