Buttermilk Cake with Riesling-Poached Pears
Buttermilk Cake with Riesling-Poached Pears might be just the dessert you are searching for. This recipe covers 8% of your daily requirements of vitamins and minerals. This recipe serves 10. One serving contains 542 calories, 6g of protein, and 17g of fat. From preparation to the plate, this recipe takes approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes. A mixture of crème fraîche, salt, buttermilk, and a handful of other ingredients are all it takes to make this recipe so delicious.
Instructions
Butter a 9-inch cake pan and line it with a 9-inch round of parchment paper. Butter the parchment paper.
In a bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, using a handheld mixer, beat the butter with both sugars at medium-high speed until light and fluffy.
Add the yolks, one at a time, beating well between additions. Beat in the lemon zest and vanilla extract. At low speed, alternately beat in the flour mixture and the buttermilk until almost blended. With a rubber spatula, finish folding the mixture together just until smooth. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 35 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
Transfer the cake to a rack to cool completely.
Peel and halve the pears. With a spoon, scoop out the cores and discard. In a large saucepan, combine the Riesling, water, sugar, vanilla bean and seeds, orange zest and star anise pods. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
Add the pear halves and simmer over moderate heat, turning once, until tender, about 5 minutes.
Transfer the pears to a large plate. Discard the star anise, vanilla bean and orange zest. Boil the Riesling poaching liquid over high heat until reduced to 1 cup and syrupy, about 15 minutes. When the pears have cooled, slice them lengthwise 1/3 inch thick.
In a small bowl, combine the crme frache, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds and confectioners' sugar.
Unmold the cake onto a plate and peel off the paper.
Cut the cake into 10 wedges and transfer to plates.
Place a sliced pear half alongside each cake slice. Spoon some of the Riesling syrup over the cake, top with some vanilla crme frache and serve.