Pear Cardamom Bread

Course: Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert

Cuisine: North African/Middle Eastern, North American

Keyword: cardamom, muffins, pear, quick bread

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 1

Total Time: 1 10

Servings: 3/4-inch thick slices

Calories: 382kcal

Pear Cardamom Bread is a tender, moist quick bread flecked with spicy sweet cardamom and pears.

3 cups (390 grams) all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons (7 grams) baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons (2 grams) ground cardamom
3/4 teaspoon (4 grams) baking soda
1/2 teaspoon (1 gram) ground cinnamon
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks or 170 grams) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup, firmly packed (215 grams) brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon (5 grams) kosher salt
3 large eggs at room temperature
1 teaspoon (5 milliliters) vanilla extract
1 cup (250 milliliters) buttermilk at room temperature (see Notes for how to make buttermilk at home)
2 Bosc pears de-stemmed, cored, and diced (2 cups or 330 grams)

Preheat an oven to 350°F (177°C).
Grease a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan with baking spray or brush with butter and lightly dust with all-purpose flour. Set the pan aside.

Into a 2-quart bowl, sift together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, ground cardamom, baking soda, and ground cinnamon.
Set this dry mixture aside while you cream the butter and sugar together.

Use an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer set on medium-high to cream together the brown sugar, unsalted butter, and kosher salt in a 4-quart mixing bowl for 4 minutes.
Add the vanilla extract to the bowl containing your eggs.
Add the eggs to the butter-sugar mixture, one at a time, and blend them in on low, stopping and scraping down the bowl's sides, and the beaters after each egg is no longer visible.
Increase the mixer's speed to medium-high and beat for an additional 4 minutes.
Sift in one-third of the dry ingredients, then blend this in at low speed until the flour is no longer visible.
Next, add half of the buttermilk to the bowl. Blend this in, once again, at low speed until it is incorporated.
Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl and beaters. Repeat the process with one-third of the dry, followed by the remaining buttermilk. End with the last of the dry ingredients.
Use a rubber spatula to fold the diced pears into the batter.

Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
Bake the pear cardamom bread for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
Once the bread comes out of the oven, allow it to cool in the pan for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, remove the bread from the pan and allow it to cool on a cooling rack for at least 15 minutes before slicing and serving.
Slice the pear cardamom bread into 1-inch thick slices using a serrated bread knife once cool.
Serve pear cardamom bread with yogurt and your favorite breakfast beverage.

You can replace cardamom with Pumpkin Spice Blend, ground cinnamon, ginger, Chai Spice Blend, or apple pie spice blend.
Replace the vanilla extract with maple extract, almond extract, bourbon, or spiced rum.
You can substitute Concorde, Seckel, or Tosca pears in this recipe if you can't find Bosc.
Substitute the pears for equal measurements of Pink Lady apples, quinces, or mango.

Be sure to use green cardamom in your recipes, as this is true cardamom. Most ground cardamom sold in stores is green.
Cooling the bread in the pan for 5 minutes gives the bread time to set up, which keeps it from falling apart when you take it out of the pan.
You can slice your bread loaf however thick you want to.

Measure out 1 cup of 2% or skim milk.
Stir in 1 tablespoon (15 milliliters) of lemon juice or white distilled vinegar.
Allow the mixture to sit for 15 minutes before stirring again and using.

Scoop the prepared batter into a greased muffin tin, filling the cavities 2/3rds of the way.
Bake the muffins in a 350°F (177°C) oven for 18 to 20 minutes. The muffins are ready when the top center springs back when you press it with your finger.
Remove the muffin tin from the oven and allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool further.

Store leftover pear cardamom bread in an air-tight container for up to 2 days at room temperature.
For a freshly baked flavor, warm slices of pear cardamom bread in the microwave for 15 to 20 seconds on high heat.

Wrap leftover slices of pear cardamom bread individually in a layer of plastic film and pack them in a freezer-storage bag for up to 2 months.
Thaw at room temperature before eating.