While at the Golden Door for my annual reset, I often attend the weekly cooking class for a little inspiration and always walk away with a few new tricks and a couple of treats. It’s traditional at the Door for chef to include at least one dessert in the demonstration; it helps lure in those of us who have been on a disciplined meal plan all week. Its amazing how excited a group of women can get over the promise of something sweet.
When Chef Greg Frey, Jr. pulled out a Spiced Pear Cake recipe, I started dreaming of the lush orchards at home in the Hamptons. Come Fall, there’s an abundance of pears and a variety of apples for the picking; juicy, sun-ripened on the branch, and full of flavor. Chef then showed off his newest tag sale treasure—a lovely, well-seasoned, vintage Le Creuset pan that was perfect for baking this cake. Finding vintage cast iron pots and pans is so exciting for a serious cook. It’s the preferred pan of choice in my home, too. It’s a healthier way to cook and yields the best results.
Recently, a dear friend spent the weekend at my home and gifted me a beautiful blue Le Creuset pan—the very same one chef used in his demonstration. I couldn’t wait to pull out the Golden Door recipe now that I had the perfect pan, and it arrived just in time for both apple-picking season and Thanksgiving.
Local apples and pecans are the ingredients inspiring me most at the moment, and a found jar of my homemade vanilla sugar. During summer we make a lot of vanilla ice cream in our home, the recipe featured in Hamptons Entertaining is a favorite, and I always reserve the empty bean pods by dropping them in an airtight container filled with sugar. The sugar is perfect for sweetening pies and cookies in the Fall and especially at Thanksgiving. I have also used The Clever Carrot’s method for making vanilla sugar, which adds a deeper vanilla flavor to everything. For this recipe, I added my homemade vanilla sugar, but you can certainly use unflavored organic sugar, just add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract for flavor.
After nearly 25 visits, I have quite the collection of deliciously healthful Golden Door recipes, and all their cookbooks. I love personalizing the recipes with local, seasonal ingredients. The Door’s philosophy of eating has informed my family’s mealtime habits and palates for years, so it was no surprise that this cake was a big hit! Moist with a crisp outside, and a bit crumbly like a coffee cake, this delicious cake even made it to the breakfast table! I also love that it’s perfect for gluten free guests.
Chef won’t let you leave class without a few tricks, and he reminded us all how easy it is to grease a pan in a more healthful way—forego the chemical-ridden aerosol cooking sprays. Choose a healthful oil with a high heat point, like grapeseed oil, and pour it into a small spray bottle, creating your own cooking spray. It really is easy to do, easy to use, and it is certainly better for you, your family, and the environment.
Yield: Serves 12
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 35-40 minutes