Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/4 cup salad oil
• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp.salt
• 1 tsp.soda
• 2 tsp.cinnamon
• 3 cups pears,peeled and sliced thinly

Directions

Combine and beat first 3 ingredients.
Combine the flour ,salt,soda and cinnamon.
Add to the preceding mixture one cup at a time.Mixture will be thick. Fold in the peeled and sliced pears. Pour into a 12 cup tube pan that has been sprayed with pam.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until tests done.
Remove from the oven and set on a wet towel;cool.
Your cake will come out very nice.

Ingredients

• 3 cups finely chopped pecans, toasted and divided
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 2 cups sugar
• 5 large eggs, separated
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 3/4 cup dark corn syrup
• 1 recipe Pecan Pie Filling*
• 1 recipe Pastry Garnish (optional)**

Directions

Sprinkle 2 cups pecans evenly into 3 generously buttered 9-inch round cakepans; shake to coat bottoms and sides of pans.

Beat 1/2 cup butter and shorteningat medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy; gradually add sugar, beating well. Add egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla.

Add flour and baking soda to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour. Beat at low speed until blended after each addition. Stir in remaining 1 cup finely chopped pecans.

Beat egg whites at medium speed until stiff peaks form; fold one-third of egg whites into batter. Fold in remaining egg whites. (Do not overmix.) Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until done. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Invert layers onto wax paper-lined wire racks. Brush tops andsides of layers with corn syrup, and cool completely.

Spread half of Pecan Pie Filling on 1 layer, pecan side up. Place second layer, pecan side up, on filling; spread with remaining filling. Top with remaining layer, pecan side up.

Arrange Pastry Garnish on and around cake, if desired.

Yield: 1 (3-layer) cake

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*Pecan Pie Filling

1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup dark corn syrup
1/3 cup cornstarch
4 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whisk together first 6 ingredients in a heavy 3-quart saucepan until smooth. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly; boil 1 minute or until thickened. Remove from heat; whisk in butter and vanilla extract. Place a sheet of wax paper directly on surface of mixture to prevent a film from forming, and chill 4 hours.

Note: To chill filling quickly, pour filling into a bowl. Place bowl in a larger bowl filled with ice. Whisk constantly until cool (about 15 minutes).

Yield: about 3 cups

**************

**Pastry Garnish

1 (15-ounce) package refrigerated piecrusts
1 large egg
1 tablespoon water
24 pecan halves

Unfold piecrusts, and press out fold lines. Cut 8 to 10 leaves from each piecrust with a 3-inch leaf-shaped cutter, and mark leaf veins using tip of a knife. Reserve pastry trimmings. Whisk together egg and 1 tablespoon water, and brush on pastry leaves.

Crumple 10 to 12 small aluminum foil pieces into 1/2-inch balls. Coat with vegetable cooking spray, and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Drape a pastry leaf over each ball; place remaining pastry leaves on baking sheet.

Bake at 425° for 6 to 8 minutes or until golden. Cool on a wire rack 10 minutes. Gently remove foil from leaves.

Pinch 12 pea-size pieces from pastry trimmings. Place between pecan halves, forming sandwiches. Cut remaining pastry into 2-inch pieces; wrap around pecan sandwiches, leaving jagged edges to resemble half-shelled pecans. Brush with egg mixture. Place on baking sheet.

Bake at 350° for 10 minutes or until golden. Cool on wire rack.

Yield: 16 to 20 pastry leaves; 12 pecan pastries

Southern Living, OCTOBER 1998

Ingredients

• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted

Directions

Combine first three ingredients in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of mixture.

Beat eggs until foamy then add butter. Add to dry ingredients, stirring until moistened.

Spoon batter 2/3 full into baking cups. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Ingredients

• 1 stick butter or margarine, melted
• 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup chopped pecans, optional
• 2 cups (approx. 20 ounce can) crushed pineapple in its own juice, drained
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups very ripe mashed bananas
• 1 box yellow cake mix
• Whipped cream or ice cream, optional
• Pineapple flavored hard candies, crushed, optional

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 9×13 inch baking pan with a cooking spray. Pour in the melted butter or margarine and turn pan to coat bottom evenly. Sprinkle evenly with the brown sugar. Scatter pecans evenly over the sugar. Add well-drained crushed pineapple evenly over the nuts. You may use more than 2 cups if you wish. (I sometimes use a small can in addition to the tall one. Makes it very “pineappley.”) Combine eggs and bananas until smooth. Add dry cake mix and beat on low speed until moistened. Then beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. Spoon carefuly over the pineapple layer. Bake until the top springs back when lightly touched with the fingertips, about 40 to 45 minutes. Cool in the pan for a few minutes and then turn out onto a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan to complete cooling. May serve warm or cool. Whipped cream or ice cream make wonderful toppers. Sprinkle with some pineapple flavored crushed hard candies for garnish, if desired.

NOTE: For plain Pineapple Upside Down Cake, omit the bananas and substitute sour cream in the cake batter instead.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
• 4 eggs, separated
• 1 cup cake flour
• 2 tbls. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 1/4 tsps. vanilla, divided
• 5 tbls. milk
• 3/4 cup chopped nuts
• 1 cup heavy cream, whipped
• 1 cup drained crushed pineapple
• 1 1/2 tsps. powdered sugar

Directions

1. Grease and flour 2 (9-inch) round layer cake pans. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cream shortening and 1/2 cup sugar. Add egg yolks and mix thoroughly. Add cake flour, which has been sifted with baking powder and salt, alternately with 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 5 tablespoons milk. Spoon into prepared cake pans.

3. Make meringue topping by beating egg whites until stiff, adding 1 cup of sugar, a little at a time. Continue beating until all sugar has been used. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla.

4. Spread meringue on each unbaked cake layer. Sprinkle each layer with nuts. Bake in preheated oven for 20-30 minutes. Allow to cool, then carefully remove from pans.

5. Make pineapple filling by combining whipped cream, crushed pineapple, powdered sugar and ø teaspoon vanilla.

6. Place one cake layer, meringue-side-down on cake plate and spread all of the pineapple filling on top. Place the second cake layer, meringue-side-up, on top. Refrigerate until ready to serve.