Almond Poached Pear Brioche Cake
Buttery brioche topped with wine spice poached pears and the most decadent red wine caramel sauce!

Yield: 10 servings
Ingredients
For the brioche:
- 2¼ cups bread flour
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 package (2¼ tsp, ¼oz, 7g) Platinum Yeast
- 1½ tsp salt
- 9 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cubed
- 3 eggs
- ¼ cup milk
For the red wine caramel:
- 2 cups Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- Dash of cloves
For the topping:
- 3 ripe red anjou pears, peeled, cored and sliced into 8 slices each
- ¼ cup sliced almonds
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Add dry ingredients and
- butter to a food processor. Pulse until dough becomes sandy with pea-size pieces of
- butter. Add eggs, one at a time, pulsing to incorporate after each addition. Add milk with
- last egg and pulse until dough forms and everything is evenly combined.
- Prepare a 10-inch spring-form pan by lightly spraying with a baking spray containing
- flour. Place a parchment circle on the bottom of the prepared pan. Scrape dough into
- prepared pan. Spray hands with baking spray as dough will be very sticky. Gently press
- into the bottom. Cover with plastic wrap and allow it to rise at warm room temperature
- for 2 hours until puffy but no necessarily doubled in size.
- While dough rises, whisk together wine, sugar, cinnamon and cloves in a medium sauce
- pan. Place pan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, whisking until sugar has
- dissolved. Add pears, reduce to a simmer and cook until pears just until fork tender, 6-8
- minutes. Remove pears with a slotted spoon. Set aside to cool.
- Return wine mixture to a low boil and reduce until very thick and syrupy. Remove from
- heat and set aside for serving.
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Top risen brioche with cooled poached pears and sprinkle
- edge with sliced almonds.
- Bake in preheated oven 45-55 minutes until dark, golden brown. Remove from oven.
- Remove sides from pan and cool on a wire rack. Slice into wedges and serve drizzled
- with red wine caramel.
- Recipe by Kate Donahue
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