Streusel & Cream Pear Kuchen
Submitted by nissyta
Streusel and cream pear kuchen with a yeasted hot-roll base, sweet cream cheese filling, cinnamon-pecan streusel, and fanned poached pears on top. A German-style coffee cake worthy of a holiday brunch table.
YIELD
16 servingsPREP
60 minCOOK
35 minREADY
125 minThis pear kuchen does a clever three-layer trick: a soft yeasted dough on the bottom, a tangy sweet cream cheese filling in the middle, and a buttery cinnamon-pecan streusel crowning fans of poached pear. Each slice gives you tender bread, silky custard, and crisp crumble in one bite.
Using a hot-roll mix is the shortcut that makes this doable on a weekend morning. You skip the bloom and second-rise routine, and you get to repurpose ⅓ of the mix as the streusel base, which keeps the flavor cohesive top to bottom.
Poaching the pears in lemon-spiked water before baking is key. It softens them just enough to fan out cleanly and stops them from leaching watery juice into your streusel during the bake. Drain them well, otherwise the topping turns gluey instead of crisp.
Watch for golden edges and a set filling around the 25-minute mark. The center should jiggle just barely, like a cheesecake. It firms up as it cools.
Pro Tips
- Soften the cream cheese fully before mixing the filling. Cold lumps will stay lumpy and ruin the smooth texture.
- A springform pan makes serving easier than a regular cake pan. The streusel-topped edge is fragile.
- Dust with powdered sugar only at serving time. It melts into the warm cake within minutes.
- Bosc or Anjou pears hold their shape better than ripe Bartletts, which can turn to mush during the poach.
Variations
Ingredients
Directions
In a large saucepan, combine pears, ¼ cup lemon juice and enough water to cover tops of pears.
Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes or until tender.
Drain pears; set aside.
Grease two 9 inch round cake or springform pans.
In large bowl, combine hot-roll mix with yeast from foil packet, ¼ cup sugar and ½ teaspoon cinnamon.
Stir in hot water, ¼ cup butter and 1 egg until well combined; dough will be soft and sticky.
Divide dough evenly between greased pans; pat out dough to cover bottom of pans.
Cover with plastic wrap and towel.
Let rise in warm place (80 to 85 degrees) for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, in small bowl, combine all filling ingredients.
Beat at medium speed until smooth; set aside.
In another small bowl, combine first four streusel ingredients; mix well.
Cut in butter until crumbly.
Set aside.
Heat oven to 375℉ (190℃).
Uncover dough. With lightly floured hands, gently pat edges of dough halfway up the sides of the pans.
Pour filling mixture evenly over dough in each pan.
Sprinkle streusel mixture evenly over each filling.
Thinly slice pear halves lengthwise, keeping slices together.
Place four halves, rounded side up, on top of streusel mixture in each pan.
Sprinkle pear halves with a mixture of 1 tablespoon sugar and ½ teaspoon cinnamon.
Bake at 375℉ (190℃) for 25 to 35 minutes or until edges of kuchen are golden brown and filling is set.
If desired, sprinkle with powdered sugar just before serving.
Serve warm. Store leftovers in refrigerator.
Comments
recipe has errors. organization is quite disjointed. Will try to make some sense of the recipe.