Pear Cornmeal Cake with Rosemary Syrup

Ingredients:

• 1 stick unsalted butter (8 tablespoons)
• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 2 large eggs
• 2-3 pears
• 6 large springs rosemary
• 1/4 cup water

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Prepare the spring-form pan (you may butter it, or line with parchment paper)
3. Peel and cut pears into wedges. Cover, set aside.
4. Melt the butter, set aside.
5. In a big bowl mix together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar –> just 1 cup of sugar.
6. In a medium bowl whisk together buttermilk, eggs and melted butter.
7. Add the wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix well (the batter will be quite thick).
8. Add the pears, fold them in.
9. Transfer the batter to the spring-form pan.
10. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes – until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
11. Let it cool a bit, for ~15 minutes before removing from pan.

In the meantime prepare the rosemary syrup:

1. In a small pot mix the remaining sugar (1/4 cup) with 1/4 cup of water.
2. Add rosemary springs.
3. Cook over medium high heat until sugar dissolves (3-5 minutes).
4. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 30 minutes to 4 hours.
5. When ready to use it, discard rosemary and brush warm cake with the syrup.

Yield: 8 slices

Nutritional Info (per slice): Cal 445, Prot 7g, Carb 76g, Fat 13g, Fiber 3.7g