Recipe: Pears contrast with tart cranberries
Pears and fresh or dried cranberries balance each other in this spiced coffee cake. Kathy Morrison
This is the week everything speeds up. So much is happening in the moment that it’s nice to have something done ahead – even if it’s just a coffee cake for drop-in guests or to serve on Christmas morning.
My favorite winter baking fruit, the pear, gives this coffee cake a tender moistness, and the cranberries provide tart contrast. Bosc pears are excellent in this recipe, but a not-too-soft Bartlett also will work. Use dried cranberries, as noted below, or sub in fresh (or frozen) ones, lightly chopped. Change up the spices to suit personal taste – cardamom also is perfect with pears.
The streusel especially can be done ahead and refrigerated, and the cake reheats quite beautifully in the microwave. Whew, at least that’s done.
Spiced pear and cranberry coffee cake
Serves 12-16
Ingredients:
For the cake:
⅔ to 1 cup dried cranberries (or 1 cup fresh cranberries, lightly chopped)
1/4 cup unsweetened or sweetened cranberry juice or regular apple juice (skip if using fresh cranberries)
1-½ cups all-purpose flour
2-½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
⅓ cup unsalted butter, melted
¾ cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup buttermilk or plain yogurt
1 large or 2 small ripe but mostly firm pears, peeled, cored and diced, about 1 cup
For the streusel:
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
Instructions:
If using dried cranberries, soak them for up to 30 minutes in the juice. (If the cranberries are very hard, try heating the juice first, then soaking.) Once the cranberries are softer, drain off the juice and reserve for another use, or drink it!
If using fresh cranberries, make sure they’re at least cut in half; additional chopping is optional.
When ready to make the cake: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a 9-by-9-inch baking pan with parchment paper, and lightly grease the paper with cooking spray.
In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt and the spices.
In a larger bowl, combine the melted butter and the ¾ cup brown sugar. Let the mixture cool slightly if it’s still warm, then stir in the egg and vanilla. Blend in the buttermilk or yogurt.
Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, mixing until smooth. Fold in the diced pear and the cranberries.
Spread the batter into the prepared pan (it will be thick), using a spatula to spread it into the corners.
Make the streusel: Stir together the ½ cup sugar, ½ cup flour and the ½ teaspoon ginger. Cut in the butter chunks using a pastry blender or two knives. (A small food processor also can be used.)
Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the batter. Bake the cake 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let cake cool for 10 minutes before cutting. Serve warm or at room temperature.
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Garden Checklist for week of April 21
This week there’s plenty to keep gardeners busy. With no rain in the immediate forecast, remember to irrigate any new transplants.
* Weed, weed, weed! Get them before they flower and go to seed.
* April is the last chance to plant citrus trees such as dwarf orange, lemon and kumquat. These trees also look good in landscaping and provide fresh fruit in winter.
* Smell orange blossoms? Feed citrus trees with a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants.
* Apply slow-release fertilizer to the lawn.
* Thoroughly clean debris from the bottom of outdoor ponds or fountains.
* Spring brings a flush of rapid growth, and that means your garden is really hungry. Feed shrubs and trees with a slow-release fertilizer. Or mulch with a 1-inch layer of compost.
* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.
* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.
* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.
* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.
* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, radishes and squash.
* Plant onion sets.
* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias.
* Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.
* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom.
* Mid to late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.
* Transplant lettuce seedlings. Choose varieties that mature quickly such as loose leaf.