Abraco's Black Sesame Pear Tea Cake

When I came upon this recipe my mind went to Bilbo Baggin's party for Thorin and his band of dwarfs. It is really tasty and quite wonderful for any band of dwarfs. You will need the freshes black sesame seeds for this recipe. Take a look at my previous post for a source.

1/2 cup of unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups plus two tablespoons of all purpose flour
1 cup of almond meal
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
2 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup of black sesame seeds
1 1/3 cups of sugar
2 tablespoons of coarse sanding sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup of buttermilk
1 pear cut into 1/4 inch pieces

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.

In a blender grind 1/2 cup of sesame seeds with the buttermilk. Set aside. Combine the butter and sugar in a mixer and cream. Now add all the ingredients except the pears and coarse sanding sugar. Hand fold in the pears. Place the batter in the loaf pan and dust with the sanding sugar.

Bake for one hour and forty minutes.

Watch to see it does not get to dark. You may want to cover loosely with foil to insure a light golden brown color.

This is Elizabeth Quijada's recipe at Abraco. I would love to sit down with her over a cup of cappuccino. This is one of the most original and creative recipes I have seen in a long time. It is really delicious a must try.