What is a coffee cake? It’s a simple baked cake without frosting or buttercream filling, often with a layer of streusel.
As a child, I looked forward to Tuesday nights when my mother had her card game at our home. A variety of coffee cakes sat on the buffet table, along with a beautiful tray of sliced fruit. Needless to say, I would gravitate toward the sweet cakes scented with chocolate, cinnamon, walnuts, apples or pears. My favorite was the spiced streusel coffee cake.
This recipe is the taste memory of that cake with a bit more oomph. The crystallized ginger adds an extra punch of flavor. My mom was not a cook at all, so all of our desserts came from local bakeries. That meant I had to
develop each recipe I liked from scratch. I worked on this for quite a while to achieve a moist crumb cake layered with cinnamon and nut streusel and the welcome surprise of crystallized ginger and diced luscious pear hidden inside.
Topped with a golden crispy streusel, this coffee cake will no doubt become a family favorite. I also like to serve this for breakfast, brunch or afternoon tea. I prefer to bake it in a Bundt pan because it cooks more evenly, but a 9-by-13-inch baking dish can be used.
Pear and Ginger Buttermilk Coffee Cake
Serves 8 to 10
Streusel
1/3 cup packed dark-brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts
Cake
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup firmly packed dark-brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/4 cups buttermilk, mixed with 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 medium Bosc or Anjou pear, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
Powdered sugar, for dusting
Directions:
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 10-cup Bundt pan or a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
Prepare the streusel: In a bowl, combine the brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, flour and butter. Rub together all the ingredients between your fingertips until they are evenly distributed and the mixture resembles large breadcrumbs. Mix in the walnuts, cover, and refrigerate until ready to use.
Prepare the cake: In a large bowl, stir together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in the crystallized ginger.
In another bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add the sugars, continuing to beat until very light. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition until the eggs are fully incorporated. With the mixer on low speed, alternately beat in the flour mixture and the buttermilk, in 2 batches, ending with the buttermilk and beating until just mixed. (Don’t overbeat, or the cake will be tough.) Gently stir in the chopped pear.
Spoon half of the batter into the prepared pan, and sprinkle with one-third of the streusel. Spoon on the remaining batter, using a rubber spatula to smooth it into an even layer. Sprinkle the remaining streusel evenly over the top. Pat the streusel down gently.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the top of the cake is firm, the streusel is crisp and golden brown, and a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove to a rack, and let the cake cool for 15 minutes. If using a Bundt pan, invert the cake onto the rack to cool. Using a fine-mesh strainer, dust with powdered sugar, and serve warm.
Advanced preparation: Can be prepared up to one day ahead, covered and kept at room temperature.
Diane Rossen Worthington is an authority on new American cooking. She is the author of 18 cookbooks, including Seriously Simple Parties, and is a James Beard Award-winning radio-show host. Contact her at www.seriouslysimple.com.