1) Again this Christmas, my old upstairs neighbors sent me a lovely box of pears, and I knew I needed another recipe. Happily Laura has been going through Mother’s old cookbooks and other recipes, and shared this from our Auntie Mef, which looked like something I could achieve.
1a) In the past I’ve attempted a pear upside down cake in a skillet, which is just far to advanced for me — once you’ve poured the batter into the skillet there is no evening it out! and I am not enough of a showman to slice the pears so perfectly — and an absolutely wonderful chocolate pear cake that few people touched because they’re implacably opposed to combining fruit and chocolate. Ah well, Knowledge is Power, and . . . more cake for me!
2) So to the soundtrack to Kiss Me Kate preparations have gone splendidly (I am just about to start on stage two), but then . . . wait, what’s a tube pan? Where is a tube pan? Is there a tube pan? Not even a bit of one! A kitchen inventory reveals about four round cake pans (why so many?), one springform pan I may never have used, a shallow ring mold (wonderful for Russian cream, but not cake), and what I will end up having to use, an elaborate bundt pan I got at a thrift store for $3. It will just have to do!
3) I will have to put a cookie sheet on the bottom rack of the oven to catch any overflow. Wish me luck!