“On the first day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
A partridge in a pear tree”

Most of you know this old Christmas song, I know it’s not yet the time for it. Though I had my last dinner in a restaurant while listening to jingle bells, odd enough. Some days ago my true love went to Germany and Spain and back home he gave me German cooking magazines. One of them is dedicated and packed with mouth watering recipes for apples and pears. No partridge in a pear tree but I would love to have such a tree and bake all the nice treats in this magazine.

That’s not all Mr. F brought home from his recent trip to Europe. He also arrived with an over a week long jet-lag. Which was the cause for: “are you still asleep?” at night times. What kind of question is that anyway? At 3 am? I don’t wanna sound like a sissy, but not enough sleep makes me sluggish and I don’t even want to mention the other side-effects. Spending one week overtired and exhausted was let’s say challenging. Concluding I have to say this bunch of cooking magazines came with a high price tag for my well-being,  but totally worth in view of bringing some Caribbean treats into our autumn days. And I am able to share this cake with my true love and two great friends who are coming all the way from Kansas City to visit us!

One of my favorite German cooking magazines is Lust auf Genuss unfortunately not available here in the US (or not that I know of). My mum is collecting all issues for me and every time someone makes the way over the ocean, I get a stack of magazines. It’s not that we are traveling every week to Europe so I get most of the issues when they are out of season. Autumn arrives some weeks later here in mid south and that’s the reason why 09/12  “Äpfel & Birnen” (apples and pears) is just in time and it’s one of the best issues to far. I had been slobbering all over the pictures and finally decides it has to be the Caribbean pear cake. I don’t own a 26 cm springform pan and just ‘downsized’ the recipe to fit in my 24 cm pan. I also swapped starch from the original recipe for whole wheat flour, which made the texture more rustic.

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Caribbean pear coconut cake

ingredients

• for the cake batter:
• 185 g / 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 90 g / 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 185 g / 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 140 g / 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 4 tsp coconut liqueur
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• for the filling:
• finely grated zest of one lime
• juice of one lime (about 2 Tbsp)
• 4 ripe pears, at least 1.5 pound
• 3 egg white
• 140 g / 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 150 g / 2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes
• about 3 Tbsp coconut chips

instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 175 C / 350 F. Grease your 24 cm / 9.5 inch springform pan.
2. For the cake batter: in a medium bowl measure and stir flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. In your bigger bowl or stand mixer with a paddle attachment add butter and sugar and mix until creamy. Add one egg at a time and continue mixing until pale and fluffy. Add flour mix, liqueur and vanilla extract stir shortly just until combined.
4. Spread evenly in your prepared springform pan and bake 30 minutes.
5. Meanwhile make the filling: Peal the pears, cut in quarters, remove cores and stones and slice quarters into half. Coat with 1 Tbsp lime juice and set aside.
6. Add lime zest to sugar and rub with your fingers.
7. Beat egg white, lime-sugar and remaining lime juice (about 1 Tbsp) until they form firm peaks. Fold in coconut flakes.
8. Spread the meringue over cake and sprinkle with coconut chips. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes. You might have to cover cake with aluminum foil if coconut chips browns too quickly. Let cool and remove from the pan.