This cake is delicious on its own, but looks lovely with a dusting of powdered sugar. For a more decadent dessert, serve it with a scoop of lightly sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Serves 12
20 minutes preparation time
approximately 1 hour 10 minutes baking time
1 cup whole unsalted, raw almonds
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup canola oil
3 large eggs
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
3 Bosc pears, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a Bundt pan.
Finely chop the almonds in a food processor. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk thgether the chopped almonds, flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In a large bowl, whisk together the canola oil, eggs, sugars, and almond extract. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until they are just combined. Gently stir in the pears.
Bake for about 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for about 30 minutes, and then turn it onto a cooling rack. When it has cooled, turn it onto a serving plate, cut yourself a nice big piece, polish a fork, and dig in.