Poached pears and fluffy mascarpone whipped cream carried the team on this bake. # 283: Pear Mascarpone Cake

This cake has been bouncing around my head for awhile now. It’s a mix of several ideas that I’ve wanted to try from Instagram bakers (GBBO’s Peter Sawkins made a beautiful layered poached pear cake, and Zoë François decorates with dehydrated pears to name a few!)

The mascarpone whipped cream topping and the cardamom poached pears were to die for, but the browned butter sponge that held so much promise left a lot to be desired. I overbaked it and also forgot to drizzle it with poached pear liquid. Le sigh. Dare I say a bit of style over substance? Don’t worry, I’m cringing enough for both of us over here.

And yes, the candied pear slices do look like potato chips. . . but hey! It was fun to make and it sets a baseline for future attempts at dried fruit decoration and layered sponge cakes. It’s all up from here!

Also drool with me over my new cookbook shelves. The pop of color makes me smile every time I see them!

I used the browned butter sponge from Martha Collison’s carmelized white chocolate cake recipe. Who doesn’t love a four ingredient cake?

*turns on smell-o-vision*

Convincing the eggs to eat enough bubbles to create a fluffy cake. Catch me whispering sweet nothings into my stand mixer.

I wish I had four hands so I could fold in the sifted flour continuously, before it has a chance to re-clump. Next time I’ll take more folding breaks!

She called for a 20 centimeter pan and I only had 8 inch ones on hand. It probably didn’t make that much of a difference, maybe just a little thinner which contributed to the overbaking problem.

I also have a 6″ springform and I wonder how it would bake up in a much smaller pan. One of my goals for 2023 is to get better at converting recipes to work in different size pans!

A pair of pears, ready to be pared.

It almost feels silly to candy pear slices, since they’re already so sweet! I might try baking them without the simple syrup hottub time.

Sweet lil crispy pears.

I used bartlett pears for the filling and a bosc pear for the dried slices. Fun fact, bartletts make up the majority of the pears sold in the US! When I think of a pear, my first thought is of a chubby sweet bartlett. Bosc pears on the other hand are elegant but a little sneaky. They remain firm even after ripening, confusing this bartlett fan. But it does make them the perfect candidate for making dried slices.

Cardamom freckles.

The one, the only: mascarpone whipped cream. I will never not love it as a frosting, filling and general dessert accomplice.

Still getting the hang of my new apartment’s lighting situation. For now, we’ve got excellent shadow potential.

Marshmallow teeth.

Had to double up to make them tall enough to hold the pears in place. I kind of love the zipper effect!

Cake building intermission.

I considered leaving it this way, but the remaining mascarpone whipped cream looked at me reproachfully.

The pear slices were tired so I let them nap on the job.

Happy munching!

Poached pear recipe: https://bakeschool.com/how-to-poach-pears/#recipe

Candied pear recipe: https://bakingbutterlylove.com/how-to-make-candied-pear-slices/