Tearing Up the Recipe Card

I have an awesome dad. For as long as I can remember, he's always been challenging me to strike out my own paths while growing up and never letting a challenge scare me away. Step back, take a breather, then re-assess and dive on in, he'd say. What's the worst that can happen? I'm given to entertaining pessimistic thoughts on more than the rare occasion, so I'd always have some smart-alecky remark for him when he'd ask me, but we'd always take it in stride and laugh it off, and lo and behold I would almost always be pleasantly surprised. Nobody has shown me more how to laugh at myself even when I feel like jumping off a cliff, how to slow down when everything moves at breakneck speed, and - perhaps most importantly for a blogger like me - how to fix a laptop when your little sister empties a full glass of milk into the keyboard! I haven't been the perfect daughter, or even necessarily a good one most of the time, but I try to do right by my dad and make him as proud of me as I am of him. We've had our battles and our tribulations over the years, but as I've grown up I've come to realize that our relative time on this earth with those we love is all too short, and not worth wasting with emotions of anger and guilt.

It is in the spirit of my dad's adventurous nature and love of new experiences that I made this cake to cap off this Father's Day, after a round of golf at our local club. I had started off looking at the now infamous Gourmet Raspberry Buttermilk Cake, a simple, single layer confection studded with juicy berries and tangy from rich buttermilk, but I began formulating so many changes to the recipe that I could hardly make any comment as to how the original fares within my kitchen! I will say that my recipe (which I can proudly call mine!) is nothing short of fantastic, and as long as there is some form of fruit hanging around our house it's as variable as the selection allows.

So thanks, Dad, for all you've given to me and all you've put up with over the years. Give me another 31 or so and I'll try to return the favour! And if I can't, at least I'll try to have kids to blame it on :-).

Pear - Crowned Ginger Cake
Serves 10
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 oz cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 large, ripe pear, peeled and sliced

1. Preheat oven to 400°F and grease a 9-inch pan (I like a springform for unmoulding's sake).
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, set aside.
3. Beat cream cheese and brown sugar until fluffy.
4. Add anilla, ginger and egg, beating well.
5. Mix flour mixture alternating with buttermilk into the creamed blend.
6. Pour into cake pan.
7. Arrange pear slices on top.
8. Bake 20 to 25 minutes.
9. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then remove the sides of the sringform and move to a wire rack to cool completely.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 145.5
Total Fat: 2.8 g
Cholesterol: 28.0 mg
Sodium: 42.0 mg
Total Carbs: 27.9 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.9 g
Protein: 2.8 g