Pear Whole-Wheat Crumb Cake From 'Huckleberry'
"[Photograph: Matt Armendariz] The dense, nutty flavor of this cake from Zoe Nathan's Huckleberry reminds me of the skin of a Bosc pear: tan and textured, but ultimately yielding to something sweet. And it's no coincidence that this cake boasts three pears' worth of fruit. They're used to separate a layer of oat and almond flour crumble, and a wheat germ and rye flour-flavored cake. It's just as homey and welcoming as you'd expect. Tips: There's a decided lack of spice in the components of this cake. Not pepper, of course, but a hint of cinnamon or nutmeg would have been divine. I suggest adding anywhere from half a teaspoon to a full teaspoon of cinnamon to the crumble topping (to taste), or around a quarter teaspoon of freshly shaved nutmeg. The thickly sliced pears weren't the easiest to wrangle, either—I'd slice them thinner next time in order for them to spread more evenly, and not sink into the batter. The rustic appeal of roughly chopped fruit isn't lost on me, but might be tricky when it's time to pour three pears' worth into a pan of batter. Tweaks: Right before plating the cake, you're meant to turn it upside down out of the pan, then right-side-up again, with the fruit and crumble layer on top. Would putting the pear layer on the bottom of the cake bake up the same way? A pear crumble upside-down cake sounds very appealing, but we didn't get to try it this time around. Regardless, the syrup that melted out of the pears blended beautifully with the crumble. As always with our Bake the Book feature, we have five (5) copies of Huckleberry to give away. Excerpted from Huckleberry by Zoe Nathan (Chronicle Books). Copyright (c)2014. Photographs by Matt Armendariz...."