not another birthday cake..

My family has always been a little bit out there. From our tastes in music to hobbies to food, we are not exactly traditional. Yesterday, my mom's birthday, I made an alternative to the classic birthday cake. This recipe is stolen from Tartelette, my favorite cooking blog. I highly suggest you all go check out the site. She is creative in the kitchen and takes gorgeous pictures of food. Also, she makes macarons! But today is a break from my favorite cookie to make another almond-based treat. If you have tried making macarons and do not feel the need to ever make them again, I understand. Don't throw away that almond flour! It can be used for hundreds of other recipes which are less frustrating than macarons.

Helene at Tartelette gives two names for these: the original, almond and poached pear cakes that tumble down, and her own name for them, poached pear and almond fallen souffle cakes. The latter sounds more upscale in my opinion, but use whichever you like.

Besides almond flour, these have another unusual ingredient, forelle or seckel pears. They are pretty much the world's cutest mini fruit. If you can't get these where you live, you can use regular pears cut in half lengthwise. My dad is not a fan of pears, so he gets some surprisingly nice looking raspberries on his cake. We try to eat locally and in season as much as possible, but these are what we would call "A++" berries.

First, we are going to poach the pears. For these 2 pears, I am using about 3 cups of water. You want the pears to be pretty much covered except for the stems. Add a quarter of a lemon or lime, a cinnamon stick, a clove, star anise, allspice berry, cardamom pod, or any other spices that aren't in powder form. Also add a quarter cup of sugar to the mixture and bring it to a boil. If you want, peel the pears and core them from the bottom, but leave on the stems (they look beautiful and help with eating them). Place the pears in the liquid and poach them for about 10 minutes or until they are soft. If yours tend to fall over when you cook them, like mine do, just remember to turn them over every once in a while to cook evenly.

These were the seasonings before I added water and a picture of the finished pears.

Set them aside to cool while you prepare the batter. Cream butter and sugar, then beat in an egg. Add vanilla, heavy cream, and flour (of the almond and all-purpose varieties) and mix until smooth. Fill the ramekins about a third of the way and place the pear in the center (or any fruit you choose). Bake them at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until they are puffy and golden brown.

When they come out of the oven, dust the cakes with powdered sugar and serve warm. Be sure to cool them for a few minutes, though.

The verdict? Delicious. They are crispy and chewy on the top and have a custard-like center, especially in the raspberry version. These cakes are not super sweet, and a good percentage of the sweetness comes from the fruit. Be sure to choose fruit that is in season to get the sweetest cakes. Stone fruits like peaches and plums could be ideal for the summer. If you like traditional and very sweet desserts, you may want to add more sugar or pick different fillings. These are nice for a small group because you can make individual portions without weeks worth of leftovers. For my mom, they were the perfect birthday cakes.

It was a truly happy birthday.

xoxo,

allie

p.s. the original recipe can be found here