Cream Cheese Pear Coffee Cake

With the cooling weather and overcast days, it is that time of year when I get the urge to bake like crazy. One that we made recently was a cream cheese pear coffee cake. This substantial coffee cake is flavored with pears and cream cheese with a streusel sprinkled on top.

The original recipe from Yammie's Noshery used apples, but I substituted chopped pears instead. If you go with a good quality canned pear, be sure to drain the fruit very well and pat it dry with a paper towel. Enjoy!

Cream Cheese Pear Coffee Cake
Makes an 8x8-inch pan

• Cake:
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 tablespoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon 
• 1 1/2 cups chopped ripe pears (chopped small), if using canned pears drain very well & pat dry lightly with a clean towel 
• Cream Cheese Layer:
• 8 oz. softened cream cheese
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• Streusel:
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt 
• 6 tablespoons cold butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF and grease an 8x8 inch square pan. 
2. For the cake: Combine the butter and sugars for the cake and mix until fluffy. Add the egg, oil, and vanilla and mix until combined. 
3. Stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon and stir into the butter mixture, mixing just until combined. Stir in the chopped pears. Spread into the prepared pan. 
4. For the cream cheese layer: Mix together the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla for the cream cheese layer and spread over the cake batter in the pan. 
5. For the streusel: Combine all the streusel ingredients using your hands or a pastry blender until well combined. Sprinkle over the cream cheese mixture. 
6. Bake for about 45 minutes or until the topping is browned. Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator.

Adapted from Yammie's Noshery.