Prepare a Pair of Poached Pears - Spice Poached Pears in Butterscotch

It has become apparent to me, while trying to come up with a title for this post, that I have seen WAY to many Veggie-Tales episodes that feature Silly Songs with Larry; for I cannot seem to get the Homophone song out of my head......

I know a pear, pear, pear, pear
With a pair of really soft shoes.
He wears them to pare, pare, pare, pare
Bushes that easily bruise.

Homophones!  Homophones!
Where the toads are towed out on the plane
Homophones!  Homophones!
I need my kneaded biscuits plain


Whether, whether, whether whether,
Whether you like it or not.
Weather, weather, weather weather,
Weather is cold, warm and hot...

And something about rows of a bad smelling rose and a nose that knows.  (sigh)

I guess I should be happy that I am not roasting a Cebu for dinner! (it's a bovine cousin, kind of like a water buffalo)

Homophones, talking cucumbers and cebu aside.....  To me, a poached pear is a fundamental fall food.  I'm not completely sure why, but I think it has to do with mom & dad canning pears every autumn when I was growing up.  A lot of things were canned in the fall, for that was harvest time.  If you wanted to eat fruit in the winter, you needed to can it in the fall.  Let's face it, I am old enough to remember a time before refrigerated produce from Peru and Argentina made it's way to grocery store shelves.  Thus, canning Applesauce, Pears, Apricots, Cherries & Peaches, as well as freezing Huckleberries, Raspberries, Marionberries and Gooseberries, ensured a plentiful supply of said fruits through the winter.

After all, there is nothing quite so delicious as a Peach Kuchen in January.

But getting back to pears.  The scent of pears would permeate the kitchen while mom & dad were peeling, packing and finally pouring syrup into the jars before lidding them and throwing them in the water bath so the lids would seal.  Yeah, I am pretty sure this is where my love of poached pears comes from.

But being me, I am not happy with a simple sugar syrup. I should rephrase that.  I would still be happy, but I am happy-er when I get a chance to break out some flavor enhancements.  And I can think of nothing so perfectly suited to enhance the flavor of a pear than Gewurztraminer.  The spice floral aroma is intoxicating and the juicy lychee flavor with hints of grapefruit is heaven in a bottle.  Add a little Lemon and some Ginger, and you have a winner!  OK, I will admit that if you pour Butterscotch over just about anything, it increases it's awesomeness factor by 75%!

Spice Poached Pears in Butterscotch

6 medium Bosc Pears
1 Lemon
1 bottle Gewurztraminer (a spicy floral)
1 cup Water
1 cup Sugar
2 inches Ginger, sliced
1 Cinnamon Stick
1 Meyer Lemon, juiced
1 Mexican Vanilla Bean ("spicy" vanilla flavor as opposed to Tahitian which is more "creamy")
Butterscotch sauce

First you need some beautiful Bosc pears...  These are my favorites for poaching.  It's not just because they have the quintessential "pear" shape, although that is part of it, it's mainly because these pears maintain their shape during poaching and their texture actually improves.  They do not become all mushy and disgusting.  Bartletts, I have been told, do this too, but not as well as the Bosc pears do.

Before peeling the pears, you need to fill a bowl with cold water and squeeze the juice from a lemon into the water.  Heck, throw the lemon halves in as well.  This will keep the pears from browning once they have been peeled.

Gently peel the pears with a vegetable peeler, carefully following the pear's voluptuous curves, flatten the bottom just a little with the peeler, and place it in the Lemon water.

After you are finished peeling all the pears, let them just hang out in the lemon water while you make the Gewurztraminer syrup.

Grab a medium stock pot, that is just big enough to hold the pears, combine Gewurztraminer, Water, Sugar, Ginger, Cinnamon stick, Meyer Lemon Juice and a split Mexican Vanilla Bean.

Bring this to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer.
Remove the pears from the Lemon water and plunge them into the simmering liquid, stem up, then cover the surface of the simmering syrup with a tea towel to keep the pears weighed down to ensure even poaching. (if the pears are not completely covered with liquid, add some of the Lemon water)

Let the pears simmer for about 25-30 minutes, then remove the pot from the flame and let the pears cool in the poaching liquid.

When ready to serve, grab a bowl and spoon a pool of Butterscotch in the bottom.

Remove a pear from the warm liquid,

and place it in the center of the Butterscotch pool.

Drizzle a heafty spoonful of butterscotch over the top near the stem and let it languidly run down the sides of the pear.

Serve to your awestruck guests...  :)

Mangia!!
~~

Hecho en Mexico - Tres Leches Cake

Soaking cake with liquids is a common practice across the globe.  And while liquor or liqueurs are a common choice, such as Rum Cake, Real Fruit Cake, and most Genoise based cakes, there is nothing that is quite as extreme as the famed Tres Leches of Mexico.  Dare I say it, even the Coconut Milk cake my mom use to make when I was a kid, falls short of this gorgeous galette. (though it is a really close second... Love ya mom!)

Tres Leches Cake is kind of a paradox, both in flavor and in texture.  One would expect that the cake would be soggy, but it's surprisingly moist and tender.  One would expect it to be a cloyingly sweet, however it has more of a delicate "creamy" flavor than anything else.  One would expect this soaked cake to be a heavy dessert suitable for wintertime, but on the contrary, it is surprisingly light and refreshing, making it an excellent dessert on the hottest of summer days.

So what exactly is Tres Leches Cake?  Direct translation is "Three Milks" cake, for this is what the soaking liquid consists of -- Evaporated Milk, Sweetened Condensed Milk and Heavy Cream (or Half & Half) This liquid is poured over a very "dry" sponge cake, allowing the "sponge" to soak up the lucious milkiness, thus providing a tender and utterly moist, but light cake.  On top of this, the whole thing is generously slathered with unsweetened or very lightly sweetened whipped cream. Sinful!  My own recipe uses milk in the sponge cake itself, so I guess it's kind of a Quatro Leches cake; but why argue semantics?

I was exposed to Tres Leches cake almost 14 years ago, when I first moved to San Diego.  I went to a real Mexican restaurant, as opposed to the Tex-Mex & Southwestern food that is normally passed off as "Mexican".  I was enjoying that infamous Baja Californian dish known as the Fish Taco and decided I wanted some dessert.  They recommended the Tres Leches cake....  Luckily, I had had 3 years of Spanish in school, so I figured that 3 milks cake would be harmless enough and had a piece.

Boy was I wrong!  This cake is completely addictive.  It is SO light and SO creamy and SO delicious.  I could sit and eat it ALL day long... And I don't even like cake!  I got a second piece to take home, so I could be alone with my new found guilty pleasure.

Needless to say, I don't make this cake very often.  I purposefully forget that I know how to make it.  It's a matter of waistline preservation that forces me into the self inflicted memory loss.  But I have accessed the darkest recesses of my mind, where said cake knowledge is stored, on a couple of occasions; one being my friend Joe's birthday several years ago.  Some of my Bakspace peeps know him as "espressojoe".  Though I must admit, I was attempting to make a layered version (it's usually a 13x9 single layer sheet cake) and got a little carried away, resulting in a less than stellar rendition of said cake. (4 layers was just too high)

After this, I buried the recipe in my sub-conscious again... Up until a week ago, when I inquired of my little brother what sort of cake he would desire for HIS birthday.  I thought he would ask for German's Chocolate cake, since that is the traditional celebratory dessert for both him and my dad.  I was slightly taken aback when he burst out with "I really want a Tres Leches cake.  Do you know how to make one?"

Oh God, do I EVER!!!

So having learned from previous layering experiences, I decided to reign myself in this time and stick to 2 layers, thus not disturbing the outside crumb of the cake.  So armed with 8x8 square pans (round does not work, the cake is too tender to foster cutting a radial pattern from the center of a round cake) I embarked upon Tres Leches Nirvana.

Tres Leches Cake

Butter & Flour, for cake pans
7 Large Eggs, separated
2 cups (10.3 oz) (290 g) AP Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
1 cup (7.2 oz) (205 g) Granulated Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract (preferably Mexican Vanilla)
3/4 cup (170 ml) Whole Milk
14 oz net wt (1 can) (396 g) Sweetened Condensed Milk
12 oz (1 can) (355 ml) Evaporated Milk
3 cups (715 ml) Heavy Cream, divided
2 tsp Gelatin
2 TB Water
2 TB Confectioners' Sugar

Begin by separating the Eggs.

Butter and flour 2 8-inch square cake pans, then set aside.

In a small bowl, combine Flour, Baking Powder, and Salt with a whisk, then set aside.

Place Sugar, Vanilla Extract and Egg Yolks in the bowl of an electric mixer with a whisk attachment.

Whisk on medium speed until pale and fluffy.

Turn the mixer low and slowly add 1/4 cup of the milk.

Follow this with half of the Flour mixture.

Another 1/4 cup of the milk, then the remaining Flour mixture.

Finally, add the remaining Milk.

Turn the mixer to medium speed and beat for 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, place egg whites in a bowl (I use copper wiped down with salt and vinegar then dried out)

Beat the Egg whites until they hold firm peaks.

Fold the Egg whites into the batter in three additions.

Divide the resulting batter between the 2 cake pans.

Bake for 25 minutes until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

While the cakes are baking, whisk 1 cup (227 ml) Heavy Cream with the Sweetened Condensed Milk and the Evaporated Milk, together in a pitcher (this will make it easier to pour over the cakes)

When the cakes are done baking, remove them from the pans immediately and onto a rimmed baking sheet and poke holes all over the surface of the hot cakes with a fork.

Begin pouring the milk mixture over the cakes, VERY SLOWLY, to allow it to be absorbed.  (this must be done while the cakes are still hot from the oven, or they will not absorb all the liquid)

Once the "milk" has been absorbed, move the cakes to the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, but preferably over night.

Make the Stabilized Whipped Cream ---  This is important, if the cake begins to "weep" milk, the gelatin in the whipped cream will help absorb it.

So, bloom the gelatin in a small ramekin for 5 minutes.

Place your whipping implements in the freezer.

Prepare an ice water bath in the sink.

Warm the gelatin in a water bath until it dissolves, then set aside.

Combine 2 cups (473 ml) of Heavy Cream and confectioners' sugar in the frozen bowl, set the bowl in the ice bath and beat the Cream until it holds firm peaks.

Using a hand whisk, whisk in the gelatin.

Remove the Stabilized whipped cream from the ice bath, and remove the soaked cakes from the refrigerator.

Remove 3/4 cup of the whipped cream for piping decorations and set it aside. 

Select a rimmed dish for assembly.

Place the first layer down and cover with 1/2 -3/4 cup of the whipped cream.

Lay down the second layer and frost with the remaining whipped cream.

Place the reserved whipped cream in a pastry bag and pipe some simple decorations. (You can also sprinkle with Coconut if you like - Do not decorate with Pineapple until right before serving, the bromelain in the pineapple will break down the gelatin and you will have a soupy top)

Cover and chill for 4 hours.

Keep chilled until ready to serve.....  

I am very thankful that this cake is safely deposited at my brother's house... LOL  I could have eaten the whole thing myself.


Mangia!!
~~

More decorating ideas can be located in Hoppy Birthday and Pretty Pansies