Cornmeal Pound Cake with Rosemary Syrup, Poached Pears, and Candied Rosemary
4.2
(15)
It's all about the interplay between cake, syrup, and pears in this sophisticated dessert. The rosemary syrup would also be delicious in a cup of tea.
Ingredients
Makes 8 servings
Pears
Pound cake
Syrup and candied rosemary
For pears:
Step 1
Combine first 6 ingredients in large saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Add pears and bring syrup to boil, turning pears occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until pears are tender, about 20 minutes. Chill pears uncovered in syrup until cold, at least 3 hours. DO AHEADCan be made 2 days ahead. Cover and keep chilled.
For pound cake:
Step 2
Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter and flour 9x5x3-inch metal loaf pan. Whisk flour and cornmeal in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in sugar, then salt. Drizzle in beaten eggs by tablespoonfuls, beating constantly, then beat in vanilla. Add dry ingredients in 3 additions, beating just to blend after each addition. Transfer batter to prepared pan.
Step 3
Bake cake until brown on top and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Cool cake in pan 15 minutes. Turn cake out onto rack and cool completely. DO AHEADCan be made 1 day ahead. Wrap in foil and store at room temperature.
For syrup and candied rosemary:
Step 4
Bring 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water to simmer in medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add rosemary sprigs. Simmer until syrup reduces slightly, swirling pan occasionally, about 5 minutes. Using tongs, transfer rosemary sprigs to rack and drain. Cover and reserve rosemary syrup.
Step 5
Pour baker's sugar into shallow bowl. Add drained rosemary sprigs to sugar, 1 at a time, turning to coat thickly. Place on paper towels. Dry at least 1 hour. DO AHEADCan be made 1 day ahead. Let sprigs and syrup stand at room temperature.
Step 6
Cut dark ends off cake. Cut eight 1/2- to 3/4-inch-thick cake slices. Cut each slice diagonally in half. Arrange 2 halves on each plate. Drain pears. Stand 1 pear on each plate. Drizzle each dessert with reserved rosemary syrup and garnish with candied rosemary sprig. Serve, passing remaining syrup separately.
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Reviews (15)
Back to Top不要浪费在庶民或那些plebeian tastes! This "cakes" amalgamation of flavors, textures and aromas makes for the perfect accompaniment for an after-dinner espresso, listening to the Adagietto of Mahler's 5th, Miles: "Kind of Blue album, or Borodin's String Quartet Number 2. Savor the experience!
Scorched Finger
Cleveland Ohio
12/3/2021
The pears were amazing. I found the pound cake with the rosemary syrup way too sweet and I even cut the sugar in the cake by 1/4 cup.
jsbjk
Winnetka, IL
11/7/2021
The cake complemented the pears beautifully! It did take a few minutes longer in the oven. I drizzled a caramel cream sauce over the pear. Everyone loved it.
urbina
Costa Rica
6/22/2014
This was delicious! I made the cake as directed, it came out a little like cornbread but better. (Not oily or eggy at all!) The rosemary syrup made it moist, flavorful and delicious. I'm not a big poached pear person so I used ice cream instead. I made the cake in a cast iron skillet (b/c that makes the best cornbread!) then cut it into triangles and placed the triangles on their side individually on plates. I drizzled the syrup on the cake slices so they (not on the top of the cake, on the inside) and put a scoop of vanilla ice cream on each plate and decorated the whole thing with some crystalized rosemary. It was lovely.
treeshar
Nashville, Tn
7/1/2013
Letting you know that the pound cake took 20 mins longer than the recipe stated and came out oilier than expected. While the cornmeal flavour was good, the cake was also eggy tasting and retained the crunch of the cornmeal. Much as I wanted to like this, I won't be making it again.
Anonymous
1/13/2013
This is a sophisticated and very Italian cake recipe. I added reisling to the syrup. When plating the cake I positioned the pear next to the cake and placed a dollop of fig jam nearby. THen I swirled the thickened syrup over the entire plate. Wow, what a presentation
ellensb
albany ny
10/23/2011
I followed this recipe to a T and was very impressed. It is slightly time consuming but simple enough. My guests really enjoyed it. My partner thought the piney flavor of Rosemary reminded him of Christmas. The pound cake did however take 20 minutes less than the approximate baking time so it's a good thing I kept an eye on it. I also used an Okanagan Pinot Gris instead of a Riesling and it worked quite well. The ingredients are rather expensive too so make sure your guests are deserving!
mithalee
Edmonton, AB
10/13/2010
Great pound cake! I made it for my boyfriend without rosemary or pears and he gobbled it up!
ndonas
Washington DC
1/20/2010
I gave this recipe 4 forks because I thought it was a delicious, intriguing, unique dessert. I love how the different flavors mixed around in my mouth and received positive comments from my family and our guest. We all thought the vanilla bean "dots" looked like dirt or pepper and enjoyed the crunchy cornmeal texture in the cake--so there was a lot to talk about while savoring the flavors. I lowered the oven temperature to 300F because I baked the cake in a glass Pyrex bread pan. It was ready in 50 minutes. Also--I halved and cored the pears. Having lived in Tuscany for 3 years, this recipe must have originally come from Italy. I'd like to find a way to lighten it because I can't imagine any Italian using 2 sticks of butter and so much sugar. Regardless, fantastic recipe. Now...if I can figure out what to do with the leftover rosemary syrup!
kdianich
Portland, OR
1/19/2010
I made the poached pears for two dinner parties, although I served them with gingerbread. Everyone loved the pears...the vanilla and the rosemary combination was subtle yet distinctive. It will be a staple in my entertaining, and I can sip the syrup later.
Anonymous
St Louis, MO
1/12/2008
I hosted a small intimate dinner party at which we had pretty well satiated everyone and we served the pears without the cake. The silkiness of the poached pears along with the aroma therapy of the rosemary was a most satisfying ending to an elegant evening.
Anonymous
Kansas City
10/14/2007
I chose this recipe to end a formal dinner. It was delicious. The European cornmeal isn't as fine as what I buy in the US so I used less cornmeal and added more flour to compensate. The dessert plated perfectly and the aroma was perfect.
MichelleinMoscow
Moscow, Russia
1/16/2007
之前我有点担心,因为在the time only the first review existed. I followed the recipe exactly, down to using Forelle pears, except that I cored mine. I thought that the pears came out with a delicious flavor thought my dad didn't like the specks from the vanilla bean because he thought it was dirt; the cake came out buttery (heavy, but that's how pound cake is); and the syrup tied the flavors all together. For the effort, I felt like it was worth it. It took some time, but most of that for me was peeling the pears because I detest peeling fruits/vegetables and it takes me a long time. I think even the pound cake on its own for something more casual would be delicious. Or the pears served with ice cream drizzled with the rosemary syrup warmed up for the person who didn't like the cake.
Anonymous
Chicago
1/4/2007
This recipe was a dazzler at my dinner party. The rosemary syrup and candied rosemary are a great touch. I baked the cake for just one hour, and it turned out perfectly moist. The cornmeal crunch is delicious!
kteddy
St.Louis, Mo
11/26/2006
Although I followed the directions to a T, the cake turned out almost rock solid and tasteless, like a baad batch of corn bread!
Anonymous
Bahrain
11/14/2006
