Pear Cake with Black Pepper and Buttermilk

There are so many old cookbooks that we don’t look at any more, because the photos feel outdated, or the recipes are out of touch with today’s diets and tastes. I say no thank you to Tomato Aspic or anything calling for celery flavored Jello (yes, that was a thing). I love red meat, but I have never been tempted to make head cheese, nor beef tea. I’ll have a salad, please.

But I came across this recipe for spice cake in an old McCall’s tome, which really appealed to me.  I thought would work for the basis of a pear cake, and so I am sharing it with you. This recipe hearkens back to old German style pastries, where black pepper was used to lace cookies or cakes with a bit of bite (think pfeffernuss.) I upped the amount of black pepper added, as I was adding the pears, with a bit of sugar. A little more bite and a little more sweet, and voila! I created a Pear Cake with Black Pepper and Buttermilk.

Old Recipes Inspire Me

Old recipes don’t always lend themselves to our crazy, fast modern lives, but they are the only recipes I turn to for inspiration. Even though people cooked more back in the old days, they used fewer ingredients (although, this recipe doesn’t reflect that statement at all. Long ingredient list, but that’s how cakes go… like a science formula.) They used butter, lard and never called for brand name products, as there were none.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t yearn for the old days. I like my internet, and as a woman, I like voting, driving, and owning my own property. But I do enjoy reading recipes and books on food where people truly connected with what they consumed.

One of the biggest mind blowers I ever experienced in my recipe research was the notion that old time kitchens didn’t have garbage cans. Only slops for the animals, or fat residue that was recycled and used for soap or starting fires. Egg shells settled the grounds in boiling coffee. Crocks were used and reused. Old linens turned into towels, and towels turned into rags. It does sound lovely and oh-so-neat, but I will admit there is a little voice in my head gently whispering “psst…hey…food borne illness.”

Yes, I hear you.

Nonetheless, I still like my old cookbooks.

Sift together the dry ingredients

I used a metal measuring spoon to remove the core

Poaching pears is easy, and can be a dessert in itself

Arrange the pears any way you would like, this was my choice

Pour the batter over the pears

The finished cake!