016. cinnamon pear cake/Things That Make Me Feel Better

Does the person you love ever do something so consistently and so unnecessarily that it drives you a little bit crazy? Even if it's something incredibly sweet? Well, J has this habit of calling me every single time he gets off work and is about to drive home. Every single time I answer and tell him that we can just talk when he gets home because the drive home literally take 6 minutes in traffic. What a weird, sweet man I have. 

Last Friday I got some bad work-related news. I wasn't going to be able to teach part-time at the other Montessori school as well as mine due to a "conflict of interest." This meant I had to continue working my current part-time job that I was really beginning to hate. I took it well and told them I understood. I really thought I was okay with it but, as usual, it took a minute so sink in. By the time I drove my 15 minutes home from work, I was on the verge of tears and insanely sensitive and J said something so kind that I laid my head on his shoulder and sobbed for an unnecessary amount of time. He soothed me and comforted me. The way that I work the butter into the flour, rubbing gently, every tiny piece when I make a pie crust, that's the way he soothed my crying. Gently and slowly and by the end of it I was okay and I'd fallen in love with him all over again and I had this incredible urge to bake. Actually, as I flipped through the rolodex I keep tucked away in my head of Things That Make Me Feel Better many options poked out their heads. Did I want to take a mountain drive? Did I want to walk along the creek? Did I want to get under the covers and read Calvin & Hobbes? Did I want to bake? "YES," my mind yelled at me "YOU WANT TO BAKE!"

And so I baked. J comforted me so well and now I needed to self-soothe with butter and flour and vanilla sugar and cinnamon and maybe plums? Or apples? I decided on pears and dug out a recipe I'd saved on Pinterest weeks ago. I was going to make Cinnamon Pear Cake and I was going to feel better. And I really did. And it was okay that J calls me unnecessarily because really, he just loves me, and also because he inspired me to bake this cake. So be thankful. I know I am.

This cinnamon pear cake is insanely good right away or heated up the next day along with a mug of Bhakti chai. Share it with your friends and neighbors or they will get fussy. I added gold sprinkles, left over from my best friends wedding, to add a little pretty to my gloomy day.

Cinnamon Pear Cake

(adapted from Roxana's Home Baking)

1/2 cup unsalted butter
2/3 cup white granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cup milk
1 pear, diced

whipped cream (optional)
cinnamon for dusting (optional)

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease/butter a 9" round baking pan. Set aside.

2. In a mixing bowl with the paddle attachment on, cream butter with the sugar until light and fluffy.

3. Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon together in a separate bowl.

4. Add the eggs to the butter and sugar, one at a time, beating well after each addition. 5. Stir in the vanilla.

6. Add the flour mixture slowly, alternating with the milk.

7. Beat until just combined. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.

8. Top with the pear chunks.

9. Place the cake in the oven and bake for 45-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.*

(sorry my stove is disgusting! i promise i cleaned it later that same day...)

10. Let the cake cool completely in the pan (but you might want to run a butter knife along the edges just in case.)

11. Once it's cool, remove it from the pan and cover it with whipped cream, use a knife to tame those peaks and slather it all over.**

12. Dust this baby in cinnamon and gold sprinkles because why not?

13. Eat & share & thank me later.

*The original recipe called for 45 minutes baking time but mine took closer to 60 minutes. Maybe it's my oven or something but it took forever to get a nice golden brown around the edges. So totally worth the wait.

**The original recipe calls for cool whip instead of whipped cream but that stuff freaks me out. I bet this cake would be just as good without any topping or with a thin layer of your favorite jam. (Lingonberry! Whoa!) 

Love,
Marta