FROM STEPHEN MILLS, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, BALLET AUSTIN
SERVES:
4+
PREP TIME:
45 MIN
TOTAL TIME:
4 HR 15 MIN
INGREDIENTS FOR THE TOPPING
½ cup packed (3 1/2 ounces) dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
⅛ teaspoon salt
3 ripe but firm Bosc pears (about 8 ounces each)
Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 300 degrees. Grease 9-inch round cake pan and line bottom with parchment paper. Pour melted butter over the bottom of the pan and swirl to evenly coat. Combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a small bowl and sprinkle evenly over melted butter.
Peel, halve, and core pears. Set aside 1 pear half and reserve for other use. Cut the remaining 5 pear halves into 4 wedges each. Arrange pears in a circular pattern around the cake pan with tapered ends pointing inward. Arrange two smallest pear wedges in the center.
INGREDIENTS FOR THE CAKE
½ cup (2 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking powder
⅛ teaspoon baking soda
3 large eggs
1 cup (7 ounces) sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
¼ cup vegetable oil
Pulse walnuts, flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a food processor until walnuts are finely ground, 8 to 10 pulses. Transfer walnut mixture to a bowl.
Process eggs and sugar in now-empty processor until very pale yellow, about 2 minutes. With the processor running, add melted butter and oil in a steady stream until incorporated. Add walnut mixture and pulse to combine, 4 to 5 pulses. Pour batter evenly over pears (some pear may show through; cake will bake up over fruit).
Bake until the center of the cake is set and bounces back when gently pressed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 1 hour 10 minutes - 1 hour 15 minutes, rotating the pan after 40 minutes. Let cake cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Carefully run paring knife or offset spatula around sides of the pan. Invert cake onto a wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet; discard parchment. Let the cake cool for about 2 hours. Transfer to a serving platter, cut into wedges, and serve.
