Pears and tart cherries team up with almond-based frangipane in a flavorful Frangipane Pear and Cherry Cake that gets even better the second day. Recipe below.

A quick editorial note before we get started. This post marks Blue Kitchen’s second anniversary. Part of me feels like I’ve been at this much longer, but mostly I feel like I’m just getting warmed up.

Last week, I used Michigan tart cherries for a heart healthy Roast Pork Tenderloin with Tart Cherries. The week before, I turned to pears for dessert, with my Baked Pears with Currants and Walnuts. So this week, naturally enough, Marion cooks with tart cherries and pears. Marion?

Frangipane for me has always been one of the most romantic of food names, hinting at elegant sensibilities refined over centuries of experiment and attention. I thought it would be something one would eat while discussing Voltaire and BHL, leaning back in a soft chair and wearing pink brocade, lightly picking at your dessert from a gold-rimmed lacy plate, using an ornate handmade utensil—a frangipannière, perhaps.

So imagine my teenaged surprise to find out that frangipane is essentially almond paste, sugar and egg, period—blended together and then used to make some other thing [such as marzipan, my mother’s favorite medium for the tiny adorable fruits that bedecked her cakes]. Hmph.

So I never actually made anything with frangipane until the other day, when I was hunting around for ideas to use some of the tart dried cherries we got last weekend in Michigan. The ancestor of this recipe, which appeared in Bon Appétit a few years back, looked like a good place to start. That original is more austere—olive oil and milk are two of its leading elements. I am usually a bit leery of olive oil in a cake—it may be healthy, but if I’ve decided to have dessert, I’ve already made the choice to indulge, and I am willing to trade off certain things in favor of better taste. Also, the original called for self-rising flour, a product that makes me suspicious. But I liked the foundation—pears, dried cherries and, of course, the frangipane. Continue reading “Romantic name, delicious dessert: Frangipane Pear and Cherry Cake” →