....is Torta di Pere

3 Pears, Peeled, in a Small Dice

1/2 Cup Butter
1 Cup Flour
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 Eggs, at Room-Temperature
3/4 Cup Sugar
3/4 Cup Bittersweet Chocolate Chunks

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9inx9in Pan. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together, set aside.

Brown the Butter. Melt the Butter in a medium saucepan (because it will foam a lot) and cook it stirring constantly until the Butter browns and smells nutty (about 6 to 8 minutes). It helps to frequently scrape the solids off the bottom of the pan in the last couple minutes to ensure even browning. Remove from the flame but keep in a warm spot.

Using a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the Eggs on high speed until pale and very thick. It will take nine minutes to get sufficient volume. (This was pretty cool to watch them get all light and fluffy!) Add the Sugar to the Eggs and whip a few minutes more.

Just as the Egg-Sugar mixture is starting to loose volume, turn the mixture down to stir, and add the flour mixture and Brown Butter. Add one third of the flour mixture, then half of the butter, a third of the flour, the remaining butter, and the rest of flour. Whisk until just barely combined and then use a spatula to gently fold the batter until the ingredients are combined. It is very important not to over-whisk or fold the batter or it will lose volume.

Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle the Pear and Chocolate Chunks over the top, and bake until the cake is golden brown and springs back to the touch, about 40 to 50 minutes or a tester comes out clean.

I was amazed how well the batter surrounded the Pears and Chocolate.

This one was so good we didn't share it with anyone...