Slovak Pear and Walnut Bublanina: Golden Sponge Cake with Peak-Harvest Pears

Heat the oven to 350F. Butter an 8-inch square pan and line the base with parchment.

Serves 9

Ingredients

• 4 ripe but firm farmers-market pears (Bartlett or Bosc), peeled, cored and cut into eighths
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 4 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp fine salt
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1/2 cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• Powdered sugar, for dusting

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 350F. Butter an 8-inch square pan and line the base with parchment.
2. Toss the pear pieces with the lemon juice and set aside on paper towels so surface moisture is drawn off while you make the batter.
3. Whip the egg whites to soft peaks, then rain in 1/4 cup of the sugar and whip until glossy and holding a firm peak. Set aside.
4. In a second bowl, beat the yolks with the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and the vanilla for 4 minutes, until pale, thick and ribboning off the whisk.
5. Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt over the yolk mixture and fold in with a spatula, adding the melted butter in a thin stream as you go. Stop while a few streaks remain.
6. Fold in the whipped whites in three additions, cutting down through the center and sweeping up the side, keeping as much air as you can.
7. Scrape the batter into the pan and level it. Arrange the pear slices over the surface in rows, pressing each one only halfway in, and scatter the walnuts between them.
8. Bake 40 to 45 minutes, until the top is deep gold, the cake springs back at the center, and a skewer between the pears comes out clean.
9. Cool in the pan 20 minutes, then dust heavily with powdered sugar and cut into nine squares. It is best the day it is baked, still faintly warm.
10. Bublanina takes its name from the Slovak and Czech word for bubble, after the way the fruit sinks and the batter rises in blisters around it. It is a household cake rather than a bakery one, built to absorb whatever the orchard is throwing off that week, and late-summer pears give it a mellower, more perfumed sweetness than the cherries of June. Press the fruit only halfway in and the sponge will close around it as it bakes.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 340 kcal
• Protein: 6g
• Fat: 16g
• Carbohydrates: 45g
• Fiber: 3g
• Sugar: 26g
• Sodium: 180mg