Vanilla Pound Cake with Rhubarb & Pear Compote

By Bec Dickinson

I’m kinda brain dead and dunno really what to say… I blame the lack of brain activity these holidays.
It’s sorta a eat, sleep, tv repeat type of situation (and chuck in some socialisation for good measure).
The big event of the week these holidays is Mum’s upcoming Birthday Breaky.
This means menu planning and a lil’ trial run of that food that’s tantalising me on those well-written calligraphy signs my sister has whipped up.
For mom and I, compote was something we always thought would be an ideal little addition to the buffet; on top of
Yoghurt, Muesli, Banana bread, it’s just so damn versatile it can pretty much lay itself over all that is edible, if ya know what I mean.
So naturally, I thought it was prime time to do a little practice run, ya know, test the waters and see if we’re ready to rock n’ roll.
Along with being inspired by Delicious magazine’s Pound Cake, I decided to whip up a little spin off of this, it only seemed fitting.
enter:

Vanilla Bean Pound Cake with Rhubarb & Pear Compote
And obviously I topped it with ice-cream. It’s just silly not to.
We get vanilla cakey goodness from the pound cake, topped with the citrus and sour yet slightly sweet syrupy compote, topped off with the creaminess of the ice-cream, it’s really a recipe calling for salvation … and perhaps even 2 servings.
I originally did make a lemon pound cake to go with this, then I took a few mouthfuls and thought… nup, not gonna work, not with that compote. So to the households delight, we were graced with 2 pound cakes last weekend, now how fun is that!

Shall we skip the small talk and head to the main event? (sorry for the lack of conversation on my behalf, i’m just as dazed as a cucumber these days. Cheers holidays.)

VANILLA BEAN POUND CAKE WITH RHUBARB & PEAR COMPOTE
Pound Cake recipe adapted from ABC Delicious Magazine, Issue 139, July 2014
Rhubarb & Pear Compote recipe from taste.com.au

Ingredients
Vanilla Bean Pound Cake:
200g softened butter
1 1/4 cups (275g) caster sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
4 eggs
1 2/3 cups (250g) plain flour

Rhubarb & Pear Compote
60ml (1/4 cup) fresh orange juice
55g (1/4 cup) caster sugar
1 bunch (about 700g) rhubarb, trimmed, washed, cut into 4cm length
4 ripe pears, peeled, cored, halved, each half cut into 3 wedges
1 x 3cm-wide strip orange rind, pith removed
1 x 7cm cinnamon stick

Ice-cream to serve

Method
For the Pound Cake;
preheat the oven to 170C, and grease and line a 1.25L loaf pan with baking paper.
Beat butter and sugar using electric beaters for 3-4 minutes or until thick and pale.
Add vanilla and beat until combined.
Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add flour, beating until well combined.
Spoon the mixture into a pan and bake for 1 hour 10 minutes or until golden and skewer comes out clean. Cool in pan.

For the Compote;
Place the orange juice and sugar in a large saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes or until sugar dissolves.
Add the rhubarb, pear, orange rind and cinnamon stick.
Bring to a simmer and cook, covered, for 5 minutes.
Uncover and cook for a further 5 minutes or until fruit is tender and liquid thickens slightly.
Remove from heat and set aside for 15 minutes to cool.

Slice the Pound Cake, top with a (generous) scoop of ice-cream and spoon the Compote on top – enjoy!

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