Pear Pine Nut Coffee Cake

When life gives you twenty, ripe Harry & David pears you put on your apron and preheat the oven. Pear Pine Nut Coffee Cake is what we’re serving up today.

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you know that a few weekends ago I was part of an incredible retreat in Park City called the Better Blog Retreat. It was an incredible three days filled with meaningful conversations and just what I needed to stay motivated and inspired as I continue to grow what is Mountain Mama Cooks. A full recap is coming this weekend so until then, I leave you with this Pear Pine Nut Coffee Cake as a teaser.

Harry and David was kind enough to give each of the attendees our own gift basket filled with the ever addicting Moose Munch, cheese, crackers and you guessed it, their famous Royal Riviera Pears. Since most of the attendees were traveling home by airplane already bogged down with more swag that you can imagine, many asked if I wanted a few of their pears. Not one to turn food down, I said YES!!! When I got home and started to unpack, I realized that I had almost twenty pears. And ones that needed to be used up pretty quickly. After snacking on a few, topping oatmeal one morning and making a batch of slow cooker pear butter, I still had 4 left. This is where I introduce you to this beautiful, moist coffee cake.

Pine nuts are so ridiculously expensive right now. It’s like a gut punch every time I buy a bag. What used to be a regular topping to salads and steamed veggies in our house, is no longer. I find myself becoming so stingy with them, saving them for only the most special of recipes. A little digression here but does anyone have any great sources for ordering nuts? I generally pick up a bag whenever I hit Trader Joe’s but even then, they still leave a hole in my wallet.

I intended to use pecans in the coffee cake but when I searched the pantry, there were none to be found. I did, however, stumble upon a stashed bag of the aforementioned pine nuts. Apparently I not only hoard pine nuts but I then forget about them too. We were having friends over for dinner and this was meant to be dessert. I didn’t have time to run to the grocery store for pecans so I pushed my stinginess aside and used the pine nuts. What resulted was a beautiful albeit expensive marriage. If only pine nuts weren’t so much and coffee cake was it’s own food group. And while I’m at it, wouldn’t it be great if coffee cake was an acceptable breakfast on a regular basis and working out made you fat instead of thin? A girl can dream.

Have a great weekend, everyone!!

Pear Pine Nut Coffee Cake

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Ingredients

Cake:

• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• scant 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• scant 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
• zest of 1 lemon
• 3 pears, peeled and sliced 1/4-inch thick
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Topping:

• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 tablespoons oats
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 2 oz pine nuts

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
2. Put topping together by placing all ingredients except pine nuts in the bowl of a small food processor. Pulse 8-10 times just until the butter is broken up into pea size pieces and the mixture is crumbly. Cover and place in the fridge while you prepare the rest of the cake.
3. Prepare a 10-inch springform pan by lightly coating it with butter then lightly dusting with flour; set aside.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon; set aside.
5. Slice the pears and toss them with 2 tablespoons lemon juice in a small bowl; set aside.
6. With an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar until fluffy, approximately 3-5 minutes. Add eggs, vanilla and lemon zest and mix well.
7. Starting with the Greek yogurt, alternate adding to cake batter along with dry ingredients, mixing just until combined.
8. Pour batter into prepared pan. Top the batter with sliced pears and then sprinkle the crumble topping over the pears. Finish by sprinkling the pine nuts on top.
9. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool in pan for at least 20-25 minutes before serving before removing from pan. Let cool completely before serving.