STRATEGY SESSION: Georgie upgrades the fat in this recipe by using canola oil instead of butter. (Macadamia nut oil would have made for an even more dramatic upgrade.) In addition, she reduces calories and total carbohydrate by substituting Splenda for  sugar. This intervention also brings down the glycemic load of the cake.

 

Pears are the glorious fruit of the season (not much competition there), and Georgie Fear showcases them in this spectacular cake. She found inspiration in a couple of recipes from Scraping the Skillet and Epicurious, and then turned her amazing brain to analysis, synthesis, and healthy praxis. Here’s her detailed report:

“From the first, I liked the fact that it wasn’t meant to be overly sweet, and that it had used whole grain flour and only ¼ cup butter. As “before” recipes go, this really wasn’t too bad to start with. From the Epicurious version, I wanted to incorporate some cinnamon and nutmeg, increase the baking soda, and include both grated gingerroot and powdered ginger. From there it was a game of increasing/decreasing spices to get a balance that wouldn’t be too “spicy” and need a lot of sugar to balance. (I find that cinnamon and allspice are more on the sweet side than nutmeg or clove, which can get too assertive very easily!)  I also added just 1 teaspoon of freshly grated ginger.

Since this recipe required a dark color, it gave me a perfect opening for milled flaxseed: I added 2 tablespoons. Instead of whole eggs, I used pasteurized egg whites– not so much to reduce calories or cholesterol, but because I would be tasting the batter several times to check the spices/sweetness. When you’re tasting raw eggs–pasteurized is the way to go. No salmonella for me during Thanksgiving Week please!

Instead of butter, I used canola oil. (I want to try it with macadamia oil as well, but the shipment I ordered from Deborah hadn’t arrived yet.) Lastly, I kept the amount of molasses the same, but swapped the sugar for ½ cup Splenda granular and used nonfat milk instead of 2%.

With the same baking temperature, I found the cake was done 5 minutes earlier than the “before” recipe.”

Let’s go inside the numbers to see how Georgie’s cake stacks up nutritionally against the other two:

	Georgie Fear's Pear Gingerbread Cake	Epicurious's Dark Gingerbread Pear Cake	Scraping the Skillet's Pear Gingerbread
Calories	231	343	271
Total Fat	8 g	14 g	7 g
Saturated Fat	1 g	8 g	4 g
Cholesterol	0 mg	110 mg	43 mg
Total Carbohydrate	37 g	51 g	50 g
Dietary Fiber	5 g	1 g	6 g
Protein	5 g	5 g	5 g
Sodium	219 mg	347 mg	179 mg

No contest!!

As you can see from the photos following the recipe, “the resulting pear-gingerbread cake took some stunners!”

Georgie Fear’s Pear Gingerbread Cake

Adapted from Pear Gingerbread and Dark Gingerbread Pear Cake

• 2 pears (ripe and firm, not over-ripe and mealy)
• 1½ cups whole wheat pastry flour
• ½ cup Splenda granular
• 2 tablespoons milled flaxseed
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon cloves
• ⅛ teaspoon allspice
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• ²/3 cup skim milk
• ¹/3 cup molasses (robust or dark, but not blackstrap)
• ¼ cup canola oil
• ¼ cup egg whites
• 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger root

1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Cut a circle of parchment to fit the bottom of a 9″ round cake or spring-form pan.
2. Slice the pears into thin slices and arrange in the bottom of the pan in a circular pattern. In a large bowl, combine the flour, Splenda, flaxseed, cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, and salt. Mix well.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the milk, molasses, egg whites, oil, and grated ginger. Add a small amount of the dry ingredients to the wet ones, and stir to combine. Add the remaining dry ingredients, and stir just until the batter is uniform and no lumps remain. Do not overbeat. Pour batter gently over slices pears and smooth. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Makes 8 servings

Per serving: Calories 231, 8 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 37 g total carbohydrate, 5 g dietary fiber, 5 g protein, 219 mg sodium.

Before baking…

Serving…

Tasting…