pear bread
Look, I didn’t give up bananas that day; they’re still sliced them into my oatmeal, over my cottage cheese and eaten to occasionally convince myself that it’s not a real dessert I’m craving, and I’m not here to nudge you to either. But there has been a whole lot less banana bread in my life since last year, and I’ve missed it. Yet you can imagine my surprise realizing that most of what made banana bread awesome for me had little to do with bananas, something I discovered making pear bread last week.
What they share in common is a subtlety, a quietness that goes so gently with a mid-afternoon cup of coffee. That, cinnamon, a rich crumb and an ease in putting them together. Unlike banana bread, I didn’t go head-over-heels for this the moment it came out of the oven. We liked it, but we didn’t flip over it just yet. That came the next day, and then the day after that, and was reinforced now five days later: this cake keeps getting better, and it’s been the coziest part of the holiday so far, second only to this sighing bundle zonked out by the fire, after being hypnotized by the tree’s sparkling lights. I hope your day has been at least as cozy and warm.
One year ago: Gramercy Tavern’s Gingerbread
Two years ago: Blue Cheese Iceberg Wedge
Three years ago: Stuffed Mushrooms and Gougères
Pear Bread
Adapted from Nancy McDermott’s Southern Cakes, which attributes it to one Cornelia Walker
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
3/4 cup butter, softened, or 3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups sugar
2 to 4 pears firm, ripe pears, depending on size (you’ll need 2 grated cups total, but I don’t recommend you grate them until you are about to use them, so they don’t brown)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Heat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and lightly grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan or two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans.
Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl, and stir with a fork to mix everything well. If you’re using nuts, scoop out about 1/4 cup of the flour mixture and combine it in a small bowl with the chopped walnuts, stirring and tossing to coat the nuts with the flour.
Peel and core pears, then grate them. You’ll want two grated cups total; set them briefly aside. In a medium bowl, combine the butter or oil, eggs, sugar, grated pear, nuts (if using), and vanilla, and stir to mix everything well. Scrape the pear mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until the flour disappears and the batter is evenly moistened.
Quickly scrape the batter into the prepared pans and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 60 to 70 minutes, or until the bread is handsomely browned and firm on top and a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool the bread in the pan on a wire rack or folded kitchen towel for about 10 minutes. Then turn it out onto a plate or a wire rack to cool completely, top side up. Serve it as is, sprinkle it with confectioners sugar or drizzle it with a simple glaze made from whisking 3 tablespoons buttermilk, a dash of vanilla and 2 cups of confectioners’ sugar together.
Deb, this looks amazing! And unfortunately as a kid, I did learn about the whole banana thing… Stupid NYC school system ruining the minds of 7 year olds…
Question, what’s with all the question marks in the recipe?
After posting my comment, the question marks disappeared. Sorry… :)
I was fixing them in the 30 seconds after this posted. It never fails that a comment appears before I have a chance to make fixes! :)
Looks gorgeous. I love the sugar sifting action shot! I also read an article in a British paper a few months ago that really depressed me about bananas :( But I still love my banana bread!
This is really nice bread! Never thought of making it with pears. Bet these would make nice muffins, too. Photos are beautiful !!!!
delicious! I’m a huge fan of pears- I think they’re one of the most underrated fruits. BTW brought your cappuccino fudge cheesecake to christmas dinner… was a huge hit, and has already been requested for a birthday next week!
Have you been introduced to responsibly grown organic bananas? Even the little local market on the Upper West Side sells them. http://www.organicsunlimited.com/organics/grow
I find Pears tasteless, never to ripen properly, they seem to always turn to flavorless mush before they ripen.
Saw these photos last night and was thinking how delicious it looked. But my refrigerator is already filled with dessert leftovers (thank you for your simple apple tart / brownie mosaic cheesecake recipes- both hits at the dinner table!)… Want this, but can’t justify making another dessert … But only two cups of sugar? Breakfast cake! :D Merry Christmas, Deb! Thank you for all your fantastic photos and recipes… Looking forward to them always…
Pears are just so stinkin’ elegant. I love recipes that incorporate them.
your swaddle looks as good as ALL your recipes!
i just received vietnamese cinnamon…would you suggest i use it for this recipe?
…hope your day was cozy & warm…:)
Thanks for the banana info! I’m glad to be an early comment on a recipe.
Deb, I wanted to tell you that you were very much a part of our Christmas celebration this year. I made the dough for cinnamon swirl buns last night and baked them this morning. We had huevos rancheros for lunch, and I made the salted brown butter crispy treats for dessert at my mom’s dinner this evening. Everyone loved them. Thank you for making our holiday eating easy, fun, and delicious!
Another holiday card/love letter to you and your fabulous site. I made rugelach pinwheels, world peace cookies and vanilla roasted pears (to serve with cheese & crackers) for my holiday party. Everything turned out beautifully, and it’s all thanks to you. Cooking from your site is like having a friend in the kitchen – you get so much more than just a recipe.
Thanks for all you do for us! Happy New Year to you and your family.
Oooh, thanks for this. I need a way to use up all the pears in my house before they go bad!
This looks so great and a fantastic way to use the pears I have sitting upstairs! Hope you’re enjoying your holidays with your little one!
Sweet and delicious, just like that precious “burrito”! :)
This looks great and I’ll try it. But I think you should move to Hawaii and grow your own bananas in your back yard. No corporations do that! :)
Aloha!
Looks good! But what I want to know is what you had for christmas and what you’re doing with the leftovers!
This looks great. I’d like to make some for my significant other before I take off for a month so he has something to nourish him while I’m gone. Do you have any sense of how this freezes/ keeps in the fridge?
This looks delicious! This looks like a fair compromise for the sweet-laden days that encompass this season (I don’t want to think about the amount of cookies I’ve made in the past few weeks): warm, delectable, sweet, but not cloyingly so.
This looks amazing! I just want to say thank you for making my family’s Christmas wonderful this year. I made your chocolate beer and whiskey cupcakes, and your snickerdoodles. They were a huge hit with my family and promptly evaporated despite the fact that I had made enough to feed a small army. Your blog is truly an inspiration. Thank you and happy holidays!!
What a precious napping bundle! And thanks for another great pear recipe. I have some waiting to become roasted vanilla pears. Thanks also for the braised brussel sprout recipe – they graced our table this afternoon and everyone loved them. Have a wonderful, fun and adventurous New Year!
Clearly I am destined to make the pear bread since I had both the Gramercy Tavern Gingerbread and the iceberg wedge today! Apparently your Christmas posts agree with me. Hope you had a merry day and thanks for the great new idea! My littlest boy only eats bananas but will eat anything that looks like cake or bread so this is a good way to introduce another new-to-him fruit….
Hi Deb – chiming in to say I made the Gingerbread Apple Upside Down Cake for Christmas dessert today, and it was a hit!
this very well may be the perfect way to use the last of my Christmas Harry and David pears…lovely recipe!
Hi Deb
I was wondering what type of pears did you use.
here’s another source of guilt-free bananas. I think they have them in NYC. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWeo7VA4b4k
After a long ten hours in the kitchen today, from assembling a collard green potato gratin to roasting a goose to making gravy and herb butter and cranberry orange relish and baking sourdough rolls I really should be in bed. I opened Safari one last time tonight to see if you might have updated today and lo and behold, amidst all the holiday fuss, you found the time. We truly are slaves to our craft.
Thank you for inspiring me to make the best food I possibly can and thank you for the endless ideas that you unknowingly bestow in my mind. I hope you’ve had a wonderful holiday season and I wish you and your family all the best in the year to come. Only five days away from a new decade!
I will be making this pear recipe; the vanilla pears were good. I keep pears refrig and like to eat them when they are still hard with bleu cheese and walnuts. You can also made a nice quick bread with dried apricots or figs.
I’ve never even thought of pear bread as a possibility. This looks wonderful. Thanks for all the photogenic, yummy holiday recipes.
This looks like the perfect simple recipe to remedy the over-indulgent holiday fare. Speaking of which I served your Cappuchino fudge cheesecake for Christmas dessert and boy was it worth the effort!! So, delicious and not to mention impressive looking!! Thanks for all the great recipes.
How lovely! I adore pears!
Katie xox
Awakened by barking dog –
Discover pear bread recipe on Smitten Kitchen feed -
Hmmm – this is a sign ! I am up. Why not start now ?
mmmm – thank you.
Michaela
Great now I have something else to be guilty about. Always nice to find a new tradition and I’m sure this recipe will be come one of them.
Yum! Always looking for new pear recipes. Since trying to eat local I’ve also eaten a lot fewer bananas. I feel better about that now that I’ve heard about the machetes :-(
This looks amazing! I love pears in crisps, but never in a cake. I will definately try this. Thank you for sharing with us, Deb!
Jacob looks so warm and cozy wrapped up for his nap! He is just adorable!
As always, the pear bread looks delicious! Hope you had a wonderful first Christmas with your baby boy, Deb! :)
I love pear bread! Been making it for years and it never fails that I get comments like “I didn’t know you could do that with pears”. I tell people it’s like apple cake but more subtle. Try adding a bit of ginger and/or cardamom next time, it’s delicious.
Really nice looking cake! The baby is too cute all swaddled up and cozy. Wish I could snooze like that!
Looks delish!
This looks delicious…headed for a ski trip…this recipe is now on the menu! Your chive butter mushroom toasts were a big hit Christmas Eve and I made the absolutely delicious Fudge Cappacino Cheesecake again but tried substituting orange juice concentrate, orange zest, orange liquer and it was wonderful!! ( I left out the rum and just tried to make liquid measurements equal in substitutions with lots of zest in the cheesecake filling) I decorated top just like yours but added orange rind string peelings. It was very pretty.
I think this looks great and I have plenty of pears in my fridge. I just hope they aren’t too ripe. :) I also wanted to thank you so much for all of they time you put into this. I having been giving away pecan sandies and snickerdoodles this year and they have been a great hit. Thanks again for everything you do here!
Jackie — I used anjou pears, I think. They were pretty firm.
About us being less than enamored with this cake at first — I realized as I was posting this that it was user error. I used too few pears! As I was typing up the recipe, I realized that I had misread it; I thought I needed “2″ pears, not “2 cups” of grated pear (2 of the pears that I had definitely made less than two cups). Which absolutely contributed to the fact that we were not immediately swooning over the cake — I thought it might need more pear! Which a) it does, and yours will and b) it still got better on it’s own. So win-win.
Thanks for posting this – that same op-ed piece ruined bananas for me as well. I’m so happy to have an alternative for banana bread!
Happy holidays to you and yours and I look forward to cooking with you some more in 2010!
Thanks for the lovely way to use up all those pears that arrive in gift baskets!
I like pears and have made pear cake, replacing the apples in a recipe and think any fruit bread/cake gets better with age. I am in awe of your pear cutting abilities. Any chance of a pear butter recipe?
Your baby is too precious, miss swaddling mine. Even at 12 he does with the blanket bundling on the couch and sometimes he shares.
Having spent the run-up to the holidays in a house full of ill people, looking forward to sending out post holiday gifts to the neighbors. This sounds perfect! Thanks for making so many of our meals over the year so much merrier.
This is one of my VERY favorite recipes. Quinn would have me keep a constant supply of this in the house.
Deb, and Monday Tree, if you live with a bit of land you can grow your own pears in the northern US. I have pear trees in my yard. I have moonglows which are delicious. Unfortunately the crosspollinator died, and I’m waiting for the new pollinator to grow large enough to blossom well. I still have canned pears from the tree from two or three years ago, well sealed.
Also, don’t feel guilt about bananas, just look for the better ones.I see several writers offered links for alternative sources. There are some US growers in southern California, but they only grow small amounts. Too bad for us in northern climes, where they can grow in the yard!
i made the vanilla roasted pears for last night’s desert. so good. but, now a pear related question. how do you de-stem your pears, a paring knife? yours look so precise, mine were less so (not that it matters for the pear cake). sort of mangled and sad.
your little snoozing bundle is scrumptous. thank you for sharing.
Winne,
You’re so sweet. But I live in a concrete jungle.
I can only grow weeds on my windy terrace, unfortunately not pears.
In Manhattan (where I live) there are other varieties of bananas to be enjoyed because of all different ethnic and speciality markets.
On cutting pears — I have a slightly OCD method that is in no way a prerequisite to coring pears… I slice them in half through the stem, lengthwise, scoop out the cores with a melon baller and use a paring knife (or chef’s knife, as you know, I’m a one-knife girl) to remove the stems. I just angle in a cut on either side of the stem and pull them out.
This bread looks fantastic – I am ALL ABOUT pears at the moment. Last night for a dinner party I made the brown butter vanilla pear crisps you previous posted, as well as the artichoke olive crostini, and both were a hit. Thank you so much for all the great inspired recipes! And that photo of Jacob swaddled on the couch is a bit too precious for words. Look at all that hair!
Thanks — great to read a post that makes you more aware of social issues, but also offers alternatives…
I read that editorial about bananas, too. I hadn’t been buying them for a while (since reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle) but that article cemented it for me. Besides the ethical problems with bananas, local fruit like pears, apples, peaches, and cherries taste so much better! But…we’re living in Mexico for a year and have been indulging in local bananas and pineapples. Such a treat!
My husband just announced that he doesn’t want to buy bananas anymore for reasons similar to those mentioned in the op-ed. I agree, even the organic bananas at the store come from the same source. I’ll miss them, but perhaps I can find something else to thicken up my oatmeal with such flavor.
Made the cappucinno cheesecake for Christmas. OMG, OMG everyone was swooning. I am the cheesecake queen but I must say this was my best so far. Thanks fot the suggestion. Happy New Year.
I’ll definitely have to try this…we also don’t buy bananas. Not at all, though, and not oranges either (they don’t grow in NY). I’ve found applesauce to be a good substitute in a banana bread recipe.
I adored bananas as a kid, but was blissfully ignorant of the political issues. Thankfully I discovered that it’s really the cinnamon-y goodness that I craze in quick breads, and now I make them with shredded zucchini or pureed green tomatoes from my garden instead.
A good reason to buy organic bananas. This looks like a recipe I have to try. I always thought the French very smart in using pears more in baked goods such as cakes. Here it’s hard to find recipes like that.
Pears are awesome in yeasted bread as well. Made a modified stollen recently and threw in a too ripe pear. Used a cup of whole wheat flour, a quarter cup of rye and the rest “Better for Bread” white flour, some cranberries, cinnamon, pecans and about 1/3 cup diced candied citron. It was delicious with the pear seeming to add a moist lushness. I make them in my bread machine then remove after one rising, shape, rise, then bake in the oven.
Hope you had a great holiday with your wonderful little papoose!
I totally would have thought Pear Bread was weird a few weeks ago–for some reason just can’t picture the texture resulting in the same moist bite as banana bread. But I recently had my friend’s mother’s Ginger Pear Cake and it was out of control delicious. You may have a pear bread lover of me yet. thanks for the recipe!!
Deb, thx so much for this recipe…I will no longer buy bananas..unless I am desperate…not a big fan anyhow. But I wanted to thank you SO very much for the Spinach and Cheese Strata…made it on Christmas Eve and baked it and served it on Christmas morning. It was a huge hit, and sooooo easy to finish that morning. Everyone loved it and I passed on your website to lots of family members who love to cook :)
Woke up to this email this morning, ran down to the store and grabbed some pears, whipped it all together for breakfast and got thumbs up all around. The only change I made was swapping sugar with Splenda for my diabetic father, came out great!
Side note, grading pears is a very odd experience.
Thanks!
Thanks so much for the brunch recipes this week. I made the french toast casserole for Christmas breakfast and it was completely devoured before everyone had a chance to try it…so guess who is making a repeat for tomorrow. Thanks again for great recipes this year.
The real issue with bananas is that they are disgusting. =)
But other than that, the pear bread looks great!! Pears are are one of the few fruits I actually like, so I’m glad to see another recipe with them.
Deb, If Grandma has oranges, she might also have bananas ;) That way you can keep eating them without the guilt.
Thank you Deb for an amazing dinner last night….I made the braised short ribs and they were fabulous…..Do agree with one of the comments that it makes sense to take the meat out of the liquid if making the night before–much easier to remove the fat….You rock!
This sounds heavenly, I love the taste of pears. I am curious to see if this is more like a cake or a quickbread. I have terrible luck with quick bread for some reason.
Merry Christmas!
I love the idea of a pear bread to rival banana. I also LOVE that you made it cake-style. Pretty! I now know what to do with pears before it’s too late.
The bananas I grow in my backyard are so different from the store bought ones, Mine smell and taste super sweeter, But the trees take so long to mature )=, I wasn’t aware of any political issues…anyway I want to try this but without the cinnamon i’m not in the mood for cinnamon
You’re making me fat I ate four Cinnamon rolls yesterday (possibly the reason why im NOT in the mood for more cinnamon) the recipe here is the best one ive tried, I had a lot of fun making the dough
I never feel guilty eating bananas. I never feel guilty eating. Therein lies the problem.
I have to agree wholeheartedly with Deidre’s comment to you.
Thank you for introducing me to some of the best recipes and techniques on the internet.
Cheers!
Cheryl
This looks and sounds soo good :-)
Deb, Thanks for all of the great recipes…you made the holiday baking season oh so wonderful this year! :-)
P.S I am envious of your swaddling skills :-)
Happy New Year!
This bread looks so great! I really need to start making things using pear. :)
I completely agree with you about bananas. I’m a Development Studies major at Berkeley with an emphasis on Latin America. I remember the first time I read about United Fruit Company in Guatemala and have steered clear of bananas ever since. The havoc they’ve incurred in Central America coupled with the environmental costs of shipping fruit thousands of miles just doesn’t make it worth it to me. I have great appreciation for people (like yourself) who have an understanding of what it takes for food to get to their tables and try to make choices about consumption accordingly. Pears look like a lovely alternative to bananas in this bread, I can’t wait to give it a try. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and recipe with us!
Thanks for the recipe and the Op-Ed. I don’t think I’ll cut the bananas straight out of my diet (and my children’ diet anytime soon but will try to focus on purchasing different varieties when available. But I agree that pears are a great piece of fruits and we can do more with them than we can just imagine! I just made Pear Tartelettes with chocolate the other day and my children loved it!
I think of pears as a more subtle-tasting fruit, but I bet this bread is delicious enough to taste more like bread. Great recipe!
This sounds wonderful. I can use something cozy!
There are a lot of bananas in my country! :D
Tasty, undeniably, but I have three words for you – Bill Granger’s Banana Bread (oops, that’s four! ha ha). Must be eaten toasted, smeared with butter and sprinkled with icing sugar….=heaven.
Oh, no, that was meant to be Coconut Bread. Hopefully you can delete the “banana”.
That’s why I say, *thank you* Sainsbury’s (in the UK) for committing to sourcing 100% Fair Trade Bananas (and delivering). I often complain about British grocery stores running out of basic staples in a way that would *never* happen in the States, but in this regard (sustainability and fair trade initiatives) US chains could learn a thing or two.
I am really excited about this. Contrary to every else, I have never loved banana bread, because I don’t like bananas! But I love pears and I love zucchini bread, so I think I will give this a shot for sure. My mom is spending three months out of the country and my dad and I will be here alone, so I’m going to be the primary chef – meaning that we need to have lots of things on hand for when I don’t feel like cooking!
Breakfast has never been my favorite meal, either, unless there’s a cake or bread or something that I can just slap some butter on and eat quickly. I’m not really an oatmeal person :/
I love pears and this bread looks awesome. I’m thinking of making a couple for late holiday season hostess gifts. I’m a big fan of cardamom and would like to incorporate some. Do you think I should just sub some of the cinnamon with cardamon? Maybe a half a teaspoon? Or just add the cardamom? I’m concerned that one tablespoon of cinnamon is a lot and will overwhelm the more subtle cardamom flavor.
Love love love the updates of the little guy. Keep ‘em coming. Loved your recent NYC pix too, was a bit jealous out here in sunny (but not so warm) L.A.
i baked your blueberry boy bait & brought it to friends on xmas day…what a delicious hit… coming from very tough critics (everyone wanted the recipe!!)
i baked it in a “bake & give paper bundt pan” & it really was wonderful…so thank you for making me such a rock star!
your post on “building a smitten kitchen” was informative with great direction…would you ever consider a post on the brands of ingredients you prefer to bake/cook with?
i have been testing alot of butters & still fall back on land o lakes (i tried baking w/ plugra, kerry gold & a french butter & even cutting back on amount -by one tablespoon- i thought consistency was too oily…perhaps i am doing something wrong)…
sorry i have been rambling…& i know this is unrelated to this post…have a great sunday…off to bj’s to buy butter! :)
Thanks for the link to the op-ed! I wondered why bananas are so cheap- it figures average people somewhere are paying the price. This recipe sounds good- I love pears, so I’ll have to try it!
After spending a Spring Break in Honduras building a church in the middle of a Dole banana plantation I STILL (10 years later) feel a pang of guilt every time I eat a banana. I do eat them, buy a bunch each week, but I kind of hate myself for doing it. I’d happily pay twice as much for bananas in order for the workers to receive a living wage. Bananas are way under-priced for the cost it takes to grow them.
made this with a dash of cardamom (as one subscriber mentioned) and it’s deeeelicious! thanks so much and happy holidays!
Deb, thank you so much for posting a recipe with an option for vegetable oil! I am always looking for more non-dairy options (for serving with meat meals) and I am super-excited to try this one out. Thanks again!
Yay, Deb!!! This is my first time trying one of your recipes! It’s cooling on the counter now and I can’t wait to try it. Sara (comment #89), I was thinking the same thing! It’s such a bummer to substitute margarine for butter so it’s nice when something calls for oil.
Deb, I’m a newbie to baking/cooking from scratch. My best friend taught me to bake “outside-of-the-box” when we made your cranberry scone recipe together…my first experience baking without a mix! Since then, I’ve wanted to try just about every recipe. Just recently I made mini apple-cinnamon loafs for co-worker Christmas gifts, and they were such a hit that I made a normal-sized one for Christmas morning with my new in-laws. I am so excited to try this pear bread next. Thanks for making the world of cooking and baking so fun and not-so-intimidating to a newbie like me! :)
I made this bread last night to take to a pot luck and it was a hit! I’ve never thought to use pears in a quick bread as they don’t even have a pronounced flavor when eaten out of hand. I was sure they would be lost in a cake loaded with cinnamon and nuts. The pear flavor is very subtle, but it’s there. I did add a 1/2 tsp of nutmeg because I thought it would be a nice additional accent and it was, and I don’t usually care for nutmeg with fruit. A “Cozy flavor” is the right description of this cake. I would make this again.
Woooo gorgeous looking cake!
Sara, Devora — In almost any muffin or quickbread, you can substitute oil for the butter. Although you miss out on the butter’s flavor, oil actually keeps these baked goods slightly more moist. Butter is solid at room temperature; oil is liquid — this is why.
Local pears here in China means Tianjin pears, or Chinese apple-pears. These worked beautifully in two loaves which have now been devoured. Because these are very juicy, I squeezed the extra liquid out.
Lovely recipe, per usual, and your photo of ??? Jacob gave a lilt to my day!
I made this today and it was delicious.Thank you for the recipe- it is definitely a keeper. I have been making a pear cake that uses chunks of pear and that has always been a favorite of my 12 year old. I recently tried an upside down maple -pear cake which was so evocative of this season. I made your French Toast on Christmas morning- used a single layer of bread. It may soon be a Sunday morning staple in our house.
This post was perfectly timed, having received an over-size fruit basket from the in-laws. I took out all of the pears and excitedly gave this cake a try. I must share, however, that even amping up the quantity of pear (5 small ones) still didn’t yield a ‘holy cow I must make this again’ response, though it was completely delicious. I baked it in a Bundt pan (75 minutes, for benefit of others trying this at home) and each member of our family ate his/her entire slice. But, it was hard to discern the pear taste. Though, I will give it time, as it is only 24 hours old and am anxiously waiting to see how it improves today, tomorrow, etc.
I’ve made pear bread a few times before (from bakeorbreak), and I LOVE it. I’ve posted it on my blog as well – it’s definitely one of my favorite quick breads.
I bet some fresh nutmeg would really be great in this – I love the combo of pear and nutmeg.
Deb…can’t wait to make the pear cake, but really must… As many others have already said…thanks for being such a big part of our family Christmas celebration. The Gramercy Tavern Gingerbread…baked and given away as presents. The Vanilla Roasted Pears were served on Christmas evening with a scoop of French Vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of the Butterscotch Sauce….oohs and ahhs abounded. And I just must add that Mom’s Apple Cake is a staple at our house…my 16 year old son, can practically eat the whole thing at one sitting….(BTW…welcome to your future…)
I made this. Its not bad, but my ultimate test is “would I make it again? and I think the answer is “no”. I think that 1 tablespoon of cinnamon greatly overpowers the bread. In actuality, I only added 2 and a half teaspoons and found it to be way too strong of cinnamon. While cinnamon is dleightful, too much is no good.
I made this last night, using 5 of the Harry & David Royal Riviera pears we got for Christmas. They were quite ripe and exuded a lot of juice, most of which I just dumped into the batter along with the grated pear. They were sooooooo sweet, though, that I ended up wishing I’d reduced the amount of sugar to compensate (I think regular Bartletts, which is what I usually have available around here, would be less sugary)–do you think that would hurt the texture?
Anyway, even with all the pear juice dumped in, the cake baked up beautifully and tastes delicious (if a little sweet).
Oh, and I left out the cinnamon because I wanted to taste the pears more. No regrets on that point.
Just made this–bosc pears, canola oil. Really delicious, and the husband swooned over how moist it is. Thanks!
With twins almost two and a 6 yr old who dislikes oranges (but loves apples and bananas) I find it impossible to imagine living without them – luckily I can buy them without a guilty conscience as we mostly grow our own here (Australia). Where I grew up we had a big banana and sugarcane industry – once a year was the banana festival – (my mother-in-law was a ‘banana festival queens’) and my childhood was full of frozen banana ‘ice-cream’, choc dipped bananas, deep-fried sugar-coated bananas, bananas on the hotplate at every BBQ, and in every school lunch box (then to manifest as banana bread when they were a bit past it and you still had half a bunch lingering in the kitchen). Surprisingly, I still love them – but pear bread does sound rather tasty…
My dad brought home some gigantic Korean pears the other day AND my mom’s birthday is happening. This recipe popped up at the perfect time! I can’t wait to try it :) (AND my mom got me a tube pan especially so that I started baking her stuff so even more perfect!)
Looks great!
Oops, just realized I accidentally broke a few of your comment guidelines! Sorry! Wow there are lots of rules.
Made this last night, and it smelled great but tasted a bit lame. But this morning I remembered you said it got better over time, and it really had improved overnight! Thanks for another great recipe! I also made your peanut butter chocolate chip cookies for an xmas party, and everyone loved them as usual. :)
oh also, i made two loaves and they only needed to be baked for about 50 minutes.
My husband’s best friend is single, and he has a huge pear tree that yields an overwhelming harvest each year. The things drop left and right, and he’s got no clue what to do with them.
Enter this recipe, and a sweet idea of pear bread for bachelor, for our neighbors, for the old folks at the home, for, heck, the whole town!
Now, I need a recipe for some pear wine to sip while I bake.
You’ve done it again! Did it exactly to the recipe, with the glaze. Happy faces over breakfast!
Thanks for this recipe. It was great. My husband and I restrained ourselves from eating it for twenty four hours. It was wonderful. This with a slice of cheese and a cup of hot tea is just the thing for a NorEaster. Thanks again.
I caved and went out and bought the type of pears that you seemed to use for fear that the asian variety were too grainy and watery. The cake turned out great– except mine lacked a certain picture perfectness that your food always seems to have. Is there a secret? The top of mine cracked and some sections puffed up a bit more than others… What’s the secret to that smooth top?
May — It’s probably just luck of the draw with ovens. My old one couldn’t top-brown to save it’s life; this new one browns things so well, even quiche looks brûléed. Oh, and both are whatever-the-rental-management-company-could-get-cheapest models, so it’s not about throwing money at the problem. Your oven might not bake as evenly, or the ingredients could have been unevenly mixed.
Yum, this sounds good. My husband dislikes the texture of cooked fruit, but he does eat banana bread, so grating the pears in might convince him to try this as well. Thanks!
Wow, I wish I would have seen this just 2 weeks ago when I was trying to use up the last bit of pears I had.
I made your pear bread and it’s super yummy! I added walnuts so I think it masked the pear a bit.
ps LOVE your blog and recipes
This is baking as we speak… :) The pears turned really brown so fast, I’m pretty sure it won’t be turning out as light colored as it did for you, but either way with the way the smell is filling up the room, it’s going to be tasty I’m sure.
My housemates came home from hospital today, we enjoyed catching up over a piece of hot pear bread straight from the oven. It was delicious and enjoyed by all, thank you for the recipe! Your blog is fantastic and the photos so inspiring.
These turned out amazing! Granted, as I suspected once the pears oxidated they turned brown really quick and of course, the bread came out brown. Either way, they were perfectly moist and delicious!
On the other hand, the bread tasted just like banana bread, or should I say, didn’t have enough “pear” taste to it. I was wondering, if I wanted to increase the amount of pears I used (eg. 2 cups) to double that, would I need to decrease anything else in the recipe to compensate for the extra pears or could I just add it and leave the recipe the same?
YUM! Made just this morning using oil and no nut and in two loafs. While the pears are a bit challenging to shred by hand and right into the bowl of my wet so they did not have an opportunity to turn, it was worth it. I found it to be much lighter than a dense banana loaf… next time I’m adding a pinch of almond extract, because I think pears and almond go so nicely together.
Making this now, just put it in the oven. I’ve had it in the back of my mind since I first saw you post it. Can’t wait to taste it!!
Just made this today and my family went crazy! It is delicious! Did not have enough pears however, so I mashed up 1 banana and threw it in. Kids don’t like nuts so left those out and used 1/2 butter, 1/2 oil. The house smelled heavenly while it was baking! Just had another small (well, kinda small) piece with coffee ice cream before bedtime. YUM!
I made this for a party – lovely! I diced the pears instead of grating them which was messy and kinda tedious. Although, the texture would have been more consistently moist throughout had I grated the pears. Thanks for another great recipe!
Pears…what a great idea…I made this a few days ago
and truly enjoy it…it will be made frequently…thanks
Oh my goodness, is there anything better then a house full of the sweet aroma of cinnamon? I submit there is not. YUM!
I made this and it is tasty, moist and easy, but not terribly pear-y. It was a good use of some extra pears, but not overwhelmingly spectacular. I added 1/2 tsp of cardamom simply because I often like it with pears. Wondering how to play up the pear-ness! Keeps well.
I played around with the recipe a bit, just because I’ve been trying to use a few “healthier” ingredients. So, I substituted whole wheat flour, coconut oil for butter, and 1.5 cups agave for sugar. I also thought almond flavoring might work well with the pears, and threw in about a tbsp of cocoa powder. well okay, i also threw in some chocolate chips (don’t know exactly how much because my boys were helping me bake tonight and their little paws kept reaching in and in) and pecans. Anyway, I know this sounds like a number of changes, (and i should try the original version sometime!) but it really ended up great – very moist, and delicious. I love the cardamom idea above – maybe next time around. thanks for all your great recipes, haven’t been disappointed yet :)
I had the exact same feeling after reading that article – didn’t make a conscious decision to not eat bananas, but definitely have barely eaten any since!! So excited about this recipe, Thanks Deb!
You’ll have to come and spend time in Australia! We’re lucky enough to grow our own bananas right here in the tropical north of the country… so there’s plenty of guilt-free banana bread to go round! ;)
I just made this again in muffins, with the following revisions:
I replaced a cup of the flour with a cup of whole-wheat flour, I used Cortland apples instead of pears (three huge ones, and I squeezed out most of the juice after I grated them because they were superbly juicy), and 1/4 cup less sugar. It made 10 big muffins, which took about 35 minutes to bake through and develop that nice crust. They’re great! The whole-wheat is indiscernible. I’m going to try reducing the sugar by another 1/4 cup next time and see what happens.
The pear bread didn’t last five days for us to see how much better it kept getting, but it did make it to Day 3, and it’s true… the flavor just kept rounding out and becoming more divine, almost caramel-like, with that salty edge.
My natural foods store out here in Oregon sells the Organics Unlimited bananas, too. Seems like they’re the best option. They treat their workers well and donate money to education and health causes in Mexico.
Guilt-free banana bread here in Bermuda too! Finding decent pears is a problem here though.
Luckily, I haven’t had bananas spoilt for me, I have no idea what you are talking about with respect to it. And good for me, because I eat a LOT of bananas!! But it’s still great to have an alternative!
I made this on Monday Morning. Big hit with the family.
Thanks for the great recipes.
I love banana bread…. this is even better!
I saw a piece on 60 Minutes about the banana trade and no go out of my way to get bananas at a co-op that carries organic, fair-trade bananas. I recommend!
lovely,I’m a self confessed fan of banana bread but you have convinced me and I will bake this baby really soon!.
This pear bread is perfect; my co-workers and I have enjoyed it alongside tea for the last two days in our seemingly arctic office. Mmm.
I just made this and it smells heavenly!
Can’t wait to have a slice for breakfast tomorrow!
P.S. I core my pears the same way. If there’s a better way, I don’t know what it is.
Quick update: I made some of the batter into muffins and they’re so good!
I just put them in at 350 for about 20 minutes… first for 15 then checking several times near the end until the tester came out clean.
Thanks for sharing this great recipe, Deb!
Really good!
Made this bread and loved it. I love the light graininess the grated pear adds to the texture. This bread is much better next day: more pronounced flavor and better crumb after the cake has had the time to cool completely and rest.
I think that walnuts are a must in this bread. Mine took close to 90 minutes to bake through and develop a nice, firm crust. It did not burn at all.
I added:
1. A pinch of freshly ground cloves and thought it really helped enhance the flavor.
2. about half a cup of frozen cranberries, chopped. They balance the sweetness very nicely.
Things I will change next time:
Will definitely use less sugar. My pears were very sweet and ripe. I found two cups of sugar excessive.
Questions:
1. If using butter, not oil, how to incorporate it into the batter?
I like to use butter in this type of bread. But was not sure how to incorporate it. I used the old “cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy” method. I then beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. This method worked very well, producing excellent crumb, moist but not too dense. However, it is a bit time consuming and if there is an easier way to do it, I’d love to try it.
2. What to do with the pear juice? Did you just add the grated pears, juice and all, to the batter or did you drain them first? I drained mine a little, and still thought that there was too much juice.
Thank you for yet another great recipe. This one is a keeper.
Hi Tanya — You could melt the butter and mix it as you would the oil or do it the way you did, which is indeed the “correct” way to add butter to a cake. I didn’t have pear juice but if I did, I would have just added it to the batter.
Hi,
I’ve been visiting your site for a while now, and finally baked pear bread this past weekend — big hit at work! Everyone loved it. I only did a few dashes of cinnamon since I’m not a big fan of strong cinnamon flavour, but otherwise it’s delicious and very sweet. Like others, I ended up with plenty of pear juice as well. I got an amazing crunchy top with my oven; I thought it was too much when I saw it, but it’s actually a great contrast texture.
I made this last night as bread with canola oil and 4 Bosc pears (I think it was more than 2 c, but a little more is better right?). Smelled so good baking! The amount of cinnamon had me wondering if it might be too much, but it was just right. My top was not crunchy, but the same as a loaf of banana bread – that could be due to the oven though.
I wished I’d paid more attention to your photos. Having never dissected a pear before, I didn’t realize the core went all the way to the stem!
This bread is delicious and has been nourishing us through Snowpocalypse weekend. One tip: as I have a two year old “helper,” I need to move quickly through some steps and neither peeled nor cored the pears, just grated them, peel and all down to the core. I love your site!
My friends have decided that I should open a bakery based on the triumph of this bread. It is absolutely wonderful.
This is gorgeous! I didn’t bother to peel the pears and it worked beautifully. Mine only took 45 minutes to bake (and 45 seconds to eat) :)
Just made this with my three year old. He loved making it and we both are loving eating it!
I made this last night and loved it! It was actually very easy to make and mine also baked in about 45 minutes. I used about 1/4 cup less sugar and added some fresh ground cardamom.