Pear and Cardamom Snack Cake

/

A comfy, cozy buttermilk snack cake spiced with fragrant cardamom and studded with fresh pears. This simple cake is topped with a cardamom crumble and a caramel glaze.

Its snack cake season, everyone. The time of year where you’re looking for simple, seasonal bakes that you can share with friends and family at holiday parties, potlucks, or gatherings. And because I love a good snack cake, I have quite a few lined up to share with you over the next few months.

This pear and cardamom snack cake is a perfect fall treat. The batter features warm browned butter and floral cardamom and is filled with juicy seasonal pears. Plus, there’s a cardamom crumble on top and a warm caramel glaze that takes this cake to the next level. Let’s jump in!

simple snack cake

For me, for a cake to be considered snack-able, it needs to follow a few rules. First, it’s a single-layer, one pan situation. No baking multiple pans of batter or torte-ing layers allowed. Ideally, it’s a blending method cake—meaning wet ingredients are whisked into dry ingredients and liquid fat is incorporated. This means no mixers or lots of dishes for clean-up.

I also love seasonal snack cakes, with ultra-simple bases that hold up whatever seasonal fruit I have on hand. Adaptability is key.

how to make a pear cardamom snack cake:

  • To make this recipe, we start with the crumble. Flour, oats, and spices are mixed together with softened butter just to bind everything together and form craggy clumps. This gets chilled while you make the cake so it’s easier to crumble.

  • To make the cake, we start by browning butter with a few smashed cardamom pods until it’s nutty and fragrant. I like to get whole cardamom pods at my local Middle Eastern grocery store or World Market, but if you can’t find them, feel free to omit them.

  • While the butter is cooling, all of our dry ingredients get whisked together, followed by the wet ingredients. Then the wet ingredients are added to the dry ingredients to form a batter and finally, the browned butter is whisked in.

  • For this recipe, I used two large pears. I started by cutting the pears in half so that I had four pieces. I diced three of the halves into small chunks and then thinly sliced the last half and set it aside for topping.

  • The diced pears are folded into the batter and then the batter is transferred to a 9” cake pan (I like deep springform pans for this recipe), before it’s topped with the reserved pear slices (for aesthetic purposes) and the chilled cardamom crumble.

  • The cake is baked—it will need a longer bake due to the high moisture content, and then warm caramel glaze is drizzled over the top.

Pear and Cardamom Snack Cake
Yield one 9" cake, serves 8-10
Author Anna Ramiz
Prep time
30 Min
Cook time
1 Hour
Total time
1 H & 30 M

Pear and Cardamom Snack Cake

A comfy, cozy buttermilk snack cake spiced with fragrant cardamom and studded with fresh pears. This simple cake is topped with a cardamom crumble and a caramel glaze.

Ingredients

for the crumble topping
  • 1/4 cup (32 g) all purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup (30 g) rolled oats
  • 1/4 cup (50 g) brown sugar
  • 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/4 cup (56 g) unsalted butter, softened
for the cake
  • 1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter
  • 2 cardamom pods, smashed
  • 2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1 cup (227 g) buttermilk
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 pears (375 g), 3/4 diced, 1/4 thinly sliced
for the caramel glaze
  • 1/4 cup (30 g) sifted confectioner's sugar
  • 1/4 cup warm caramel, homemade or store-bought

Instructions

to make the crumble topping
  1. Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed for 2-3 minutes, until all of the butter has been worked in and mixture forms large clumps. Transfer to a bowl and chill while you make the cake.
to make the cake
  1. Place butter and smashed cardamom pods in a small saucepan set over medium heat. Cook, swirling occasionally, for 6-7 minutes or until the butter becomes foamy and fragrant and little brown flecks begin to form on the bottom of the pan. Transfer the butter to a bowl to cool and discard the cardamom seeds.
  2. Line the bottom of a 9" springform pan with parchment paper and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, ground cardamom, and salt. Set aside.
  4. In another bowl or a large measuring cup, whisk together eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla until smooth.
  5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk until batter is smooth and no flour clumps remain. Whisk in the cooled browned butter until thick and homogenized.
  6. Gently fold the diced pears into the batter until dispersed. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and arrange the sliced pears on the top. Generously sprinkle the crumble topping over the cake.
  7. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until cake is deeply browned and a skewer or knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan.
  8. While the cake is cooling, whisk together the confectioner's sugar and warm caramel to form a smooth, drizzle-able glaze.
  9. Invert the cooled cake onto a serving platter and drizzle with the caramel glaze.

Notes

You can use store-bought or homemade caramel for this recipe, but you may need to slightly adjust the amount added depending on the thickness of your caramel. You can find the homemade caramel recipe that I used for this recipe here.

Similar Recipes

Fall Apple Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and Salted Caramel

French-Style Apple Torte with Maple Tahini Cream

Sweet Potato and Rye Coffee Cake

Did you make this recipe?
Tag @gatheredatmytable on instagram and hashtag it # gatheredatmytable

Chai Snickerdoodles

/

Warm and cozy homemade chai spice blend and soft and chewy snickerdoodles are a match made in heaven. This simple recipe makes the perfect cookies with crispy edges and pillowy centers.

I’ve been a little quiet on the blog for the past few weeks, but not to worry—I’ve still been cranking out recipes and sharing them with you like a mad woman. In case you missed it, at the beginning of the month, I launched Pastry School 101—a weekly newsletter teaching you creative baking recipes and foundational pastry skills. Each month we will deep dive into technique or ingredient and I’ll break down the science behind the process, give step by step instructions, and lots of tips and tricks for pastry mastery. There will also be two bonus recipes each month that incorporate the featured monthly skill/ingredient and there are places within the publication for where readers can comment/ask questions/chat about each recipe or post. This month, we took a little at whipping eggs (both whites and yolks) made olive oil chocolate mousse, and classic tiramisu, and had a blast. If you aren’t already in our little community, I’d love for you to join us!

But now I’m back and I’ve got cookies for you!

This holiday season, my sister was looking for a winning recipe to bring to her annual Christmas Cookie Party. We were chatting about what kind of cookie she could make and the idea of a spiced chai cookie came to mind. I didn’t have time to test a whole new recipe and get it to her before the party, so I told her to make the chai spice blend from my dirty chai banana bread recipe and make my hawaij snickerdoodles subbing the chai spice in place of the hawaij. My sister reported back that they were winners.

We decided to make another batch together over our Christmas holiday they really were perfect. 100%. No notes. So now I’m sharing them with you.

homemade chai spice blend

Making a batch of chai spice blend is as simple as stirring together a few spices and keeping it in a jar in your spice cabinet. We’re incorporating ground black tea (from tea bags), a hefty amount of cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger, and lots of supporting characters like cloves and black pepper. This recipe will make more than you need for the cookies so make a batch of banana bread of keep it in pantry for stirring into coffee.

soft and chewy snickerdoodles

I had a reader once tell me that molasses is never used in snickerdoodle recipes, but I love it and I don’t care what anyone thinks. I love love love using molasses in my spiced snickerdoodle recipes for two main reasons:

  1. Molasses is made by boiling, reducing, and concentrating the juice extracted from sugar cane. We know that cooking sugar creates caramelization so when molasses is incorporated into recipes it not only adds sweetness, but a deep caramelized flavor perfect for pairing with warm spices.

  2. Molasses is a type of invert syrup, a scientific balance of fructose and glucose, that in baking, adds sweetness and liquid at the same time. Adding an invert syrup like molasses to a recipe will greatly increase moisture, creating a softer, chewier cookie and extending shelf life.

Otherwise, this recipe is very straight forward. Melted browned butter is mixed with sugars, followed by eggs, vanilla, and molasses, and then dry ingredients are folded in. The batter does need a short chill time (about 30 minutes) in order to hold its shape during baking, and then, like any good snickerdoodle, we roll it in sugar.

One last recipe tip: I’ve made this recipe using a stand mixer, a hand mixer, and just a wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. I’ve found that though it may take a little more elbow greaser, the wooden spoon/spatula mixing method yielded the thickest, softest cookie.

Chai Snickerdoodles
Yield 30-32 cookies
Author Anna Ramiz
Prep time
15 Min
Cook time
8 Min
Inactive time
30 Min
Total time
53 Min

Chai Snickerdoodles

( 0 reviews )
Warm and cozy homemade chai spice blend and soft and chewy snickerdoodles are a match made in heaven. This simple recipe makes the perfect cookies with crispy edges and pillowy centers.

Ingredients

for the chai spice blend
  • 3 bags ground black tea
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground cardamom
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/2 tsp ground all spice
  • 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
for the cookie dough
  • 2 cups (240 g) all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
  • 3/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp chai spice, above
  • 1/2 c up (113 g) unsalted butter
  • 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup (56 g) brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup (43 g) coconut oil, melted
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tbsp molasses
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
for the rolling sugar
  • 2 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 1 tbsp demerara sugar
  • 1 tsp chai spice, above

Instructions

  1. To make the chai spice blend: combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until smooth and well-combined. Transfer to an air tight container to store.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, and chai spice.
  3. Place butter in a small saucepan and set it over medium heat. Cook for 6-7 minutes, swirling occasionally until butter is nutty and fragrant with little brown flecks on the bottom. Transfer it to another large bowl and let cool slightly.
  4. Add the sugar and brown sugar to the bowl with the butter and whisk until wet and sandy. Stream in the coconut oil, followed by the egg, molasses, and vanilla. Whisk vigorously until the mixture is smooth and homogenous.
  5. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until all of the flour is mixed in and no dry streaks remain. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
  6. When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375° F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  7. Stir together sugar, demerara sugar, and chai spice in a small bowl.
  8. Using a two tsp sized cookie scoop, scoop dough into balls. Roll each ball in the chai sugar and place 1-2” apart on the baking sheet. Bake for 8-9 minutes, just until the edges are lightly golden and the tops of the cookies are dry. Let cool for 5 minutes on the pan before transferring to cooling rack to cool completely.

Notes

The chai spice blend will yield more than is needed for this recipe. Keep the rest in a sealed jar in your pantry and use it to make Dirty Chai Banana Bread or stir into coffee.

Similar Recipes

Dirty Chai Banana Bread

Citrus, Earl Grey, and Caramelized White Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Hawaij Snickerdoodles

Did you make this recipe?
Tag @gatheredatmytable on instagram and hashtag it #gatheredatmytable

Pumpkin Ricotta Tart

/

A step up from the traditional pumpkin pie, this pumpkin ricotta tart deserves a place at your Thanksgiving table. It has a crisp, sweet crust, layers of light and creamy pumpkin ricotta filling and is topped with an olive oil caramel, a handful of cookie crumbs, and whipped crème fraîche.

When it comes to developing recipes for the blog and creating a brand with a clear culinary point of view, I have a very niche perspective. I feel very strongly that home desserts (and honestly, lots of restaurant desserts but that’s a whole other sermon) should be better. As much as I love the classic chocolate chip cookie from the back of the Nestle Toll House bag or can eat my weight in a package of Double Stuf Oreos, it occasionally seems like, when it comes to baking, we lose the sense of adventure that we find in cooking and settle for the same old stuff time and time again. I think that there is space in this little baking world for both—we can enjoy the classics while also challenging ourselves with new and different ideas and flavors.

I’ve had some very fun opportunities to work in fancy schmancy restaurant kitchens alongside some truly genius chefs, who have taught me that there is something special about a great dessert. And I believe we can create that at home. I have two big goals on this blog:

1) to challenge you, home bakers of the inter-webs, to play around with unique and creative flavors that go beyond the familiar chocolate, peanut butter, sugar flavor palette

2) to teach you basic, foundational pastry and baking skills so that you are empowered to create desserts with your very own stamp.

With all of that in mind, when developing recipes, I ask myself a few different questions—

Is this recipe familiar enough to draw someone in, yet unique enough to pique their interest?

How can I take the multiple texture, multiple components of fancy plated desserts and incorporate them in a way that doesn’t feel overwhelming and labor intensive to a home a kitchen?

What flavors can we create using ingredients that are fairly accessible to a home baker? (aka—no fermenting summer flowers to reduce and use all through winter)

about this pumpkin ricotta tart recipe

All of that to say that this recipe ticks all the boxes. This was a fairly quick recipe to develop—one day, the idea just popped into my head and from conception to completion, the recipe development process only took two days. It just works.

I wanted to create a dessert for your Thanksgiving table that felt grown-up and elegant, while also familiar and comfortable. I wanted to create a dessert that could be made ahead of time, used very few dishes and only a little hands-on time, but that would look like you poured days into it. Et voila-a perfect pumpkin ricotta tart was born.

For this tart there are really two basic components: (plus a few optional extras to really wow everyone)

  • a tart crust: For this recipe, and most tart recipes, we are using a basic pate sucreé or sweet crust dough. The difference between a sweet crust (sometimes called shortcrust) and a pie crust is simply the addition of eggs and sugar. The final result falls somewhere between a pie crust and a cookie. The tart crust itself takes maybe 10 minutes to make, but does need a little chill time. You can make it a few days ahead, chill it overnight, roll it out and line your tart pan and then just store your lined tart pan in the freezer until you’re ready to bake.

  • a ricotta filling: We love a creamy ricotta filling. It feels a little like cheesecake but without being a giant slice of dairy, it’s light and fluffy and really quite dreamy. This ricotta filling is made in the food processor for maximum fluffiness and minimal effort. There’s a bit of citrus zest, sugar, cream cheese, eggs and yolks, and good ricotta (more on that later). Then, a portion of the filling is separated out doctored up with pumpkin and lots of festive spices. Once baked, the ricotta filling needs an overnight chill so again, you can make this whole dessert the day before.

  • extras: In my humble opinion, there are two things that take a dessert from good to great: 1) contrasting flavors and 2) contrasting textures. For this tart, a very simple whipped crème fraîche takes the place of whipped cream and the cultured, tart flavor helps cut through some of the sweetness. I also made an olive oil caramel for plating and drizzling (again, you can make this lots of days ahead and keep it in your fridge) and I sprinkled some cookie crumbs on top. I used a bit of hazelnut streusel that I had in the freezer from another recipe, but you can use any crunchy cookie you’d like, store-bought or homemade (gingersnaps would be my number one recommendation)

picking good ricotta cheese

At risk of sounding bougie or a little too much like Ina Garten, good ricotta cheese is worth it. Often in Italy, ricotta is a sheep’s milk cheese, but most of what you see in American grocery stores is made from cow’s milk. High quality ricotta cheese has a richer (more cheese-like) flavor and larger curds. If you think about the tubs of ricotta cheese that you find in the refrigerated aisle of the grocery store, you’ll notice that the curds are very small, almost grain-like because of the fact that they make it in large-scale production. Fresher, smaller batch ricotta has larger curds and is a bit fluffier.

At my grocery store, they have small batch ricotta by the deli in the fancier cheese section (you can probably find this at markets like Whole Foods or Fresh Market). It’s a bit more expensive, but not outrageous. I think I spent $5 on the amount I used in this recipe. If you can’t find the artisan ricotta, a tub will work in this recipe—just be sure to buy the one labeled “whole milk”, you want all the richness and creaminess you can get!

Pumpkin Ricotta Tart
Yield
8
Author
Prep time
45 Min
Cook time
50 Min
Inactive time
6 Hour
Total time
7 H & 34 M

Pumpkin Ricotta Tart

A step up from the traditional pumpkin pie, this pumpkin ricotta tart deserves a place at your Thanksgiving table. It has a crisp, sweet crust, layers of light and creamy pumpkin ricotta filling and is topped with an olive oil caramel, a handful of cookie crumbs, and whipped crème fraîche.

Ingredients

for the tart dough (adapted from Nicola Lamb)
  • 90 g (just shy of 1 cup) sifted powdered sugar
  • 113 g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 30 g (1/3 cup) almond flour
  • 230 g all purpose flour
  • Pinch (about 1/8 tsp) kosher salt
  • 1-2 tbsp ice water
for the filling
  • 10 oz whole milk ricotta cheese
  • 4 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 1 egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp orange zest
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1/2 cup (113 g) pumpkin puree
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/4 tsp ground all spice
for the olive oil caramel
  • 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup (56 g) heavy cream
  • 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
  • Pinch of flaky salt

Instructions

to make the tart crust
  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine sifted powdered sugar and cubed cold butter. Mix on low speed until all of the sugar has been hydrated, mixture is creamy, and no dry spots remain.
  2. Add the egg yolk and mix again for about 20 seconds to combine.
  3. Add the dry ingredients and continue mixing on medium-low speed until all of the dry ingredients have been incorporated and the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs.
  4. Add one tablespoon of ice water and continue mixing until the dough begins to form large clumps and can be pressed together in your hand. Add the remaining tablespoon of water if needed or dough seems very dry.
  5. Turn the dough onto a lightly-floured work surface and press into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.
  6. When the dough has chilled, turn it back out onto the surface and roll it into a large circle, approximately 1/4” thick. Carefully transfer it to a tart pan with a removable bottom and gently press the dough into the pan. Trim the edges and transfer to the freezer for 15-20 minutes before baking.
  7. Preheat the oven 325° F. Line the tart dough with a piece of parchment paper and fill it with rice or baking beans. Place the tart on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes until the edges are lightly golden brown. Remove the rice/baking beans and return to the oven for another 15-20 minutes until very golden. Let cool completely.
to make the filling
  1. Preheat the oven to 300°F.
  2. In the bowl of a food processor, combine ricotta, cream cheese, egg, egg yolk, sugar, orange zest, and salt. Pulse for about 30 seconds, until mixture is very well combined and smooth.
  3. Spoon about one 1/3 of the ricotta mixture into a bowl and whisk in pumpkin puree, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and all spice.
  4. Pour the remaining 2/3 of the ricotta mixture into your prepared tart shell and then top it with the pumpkin filling. Smooth into an even layer.
  5. Place the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake for 50-55 minutes, until the center is set and only slightly wobbly in the middle. Let cool completely, and then wrap and transfer to the refrigerator to chill overnight (or at least 4 hours).
to make the olive oil caramel
  1. Place the sugar in a medium saucepan and set it over medium heat. Cook, without stirring, until the sugar begins to liquify. At this point, you can gently swirl the pot to ensure even coking. Continue to cook, watching closely until all of the sugar has dissolved and the caramel is a deep amber color.
  2. Gradually whisk in the heavy cream and cook for 1-2 minutes more, until caramel is smooth and golden. Remove from the heat and whisk in the olive oil until emulsified. Transfer the caramel to a bowl and let cool completely. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
  3. **Take care, after adding the heavy cream, not to cook the caramel for too long- just a minute or two until smooth. Cooking the caramel too long will take it to the “soft ball stage” of sugar cooking and your finished sauce will be thick and chewy, more like caramel candies than a silky smooth sauce.**

Notes:

To make whipped crème fraîche: You can totally go for classic whipped cream on top of this tart if that’s your preference, but I really love the contrasting tang that a whipped crème fraîche provides. Simply combine 2 parts crème fraîche (I love the Vermont Creamery brand), 1 part heavy cream, and a couple of spoonfuls of powdered sugar (how sweet you like your whipped cream is up to you) in a large bowl. Whisk vigorously until the cream is thick and soft peaks form when you lift the whisk out of the bowl. 

Similar Recipes

Pear Tarte Tatin

Roasted Apricot and Ricotta Tart

Cafe Con Leche Cheesecake

Did you make this recipe?
Tag @gatheredatmytable on instagram and hashtag it #gatheredatmytable