Whole-wheat crumb & pear cake

It is the middle of July, high summer season, and here we are in Poland with possibly the worst weather you could imagine. It really feels like fall so I decided to turn the oven on and bake a hearty, old-fashioned cake to warm up the whole family. It has some juicy pears inside and lots of sweet crumb on top which means you can't stop with one bite. 

Ingredients for one 25cm (10-inch) cake pan:

adapted from Huckleberry by Zoe Nathan

TOPPING

- 70g (5 tbsp) cold, cubed butter

- 70g (1/4 cup + 2 tbsp) granulated sugar

- 50g (1/2 cup) almond flour

- 3 tbsp rolled oats

- 3 tbsp whole-wheat flour

- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour

- 2 tbsp buckwheat flakes, toasted

- pinch of salt

CAKE

- 160g (3/4 cup) butter, softened

- 200g (1 cup) granulated sugar

- 2 free-range eggs

- 1 tbsp vanilla extract

- 160g (1¼ cup) all-purpose flour

- 50g (3/4 cup) buckwheat flakes, toasted

- 3 tbsp almond flour

- 3 tbsp rye flour

- 2 tsp baking powder

- 1/2 tsp baking soda

- 250ml (1 cup) plain yogurt

- 3 medium-size pears 

- 2-3 tbsp dark muscovado sugar (for sprinkling)

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/356F.

2. In a small bowl, combine all of the topping ingredients and rub everything with your fingertips until it reaches a crumbly consistency. Leave in the fridge for the time you make the rest of the cake.

3. In another bowl, beat the butter with granulated sugar and vanilla until creamy. Add the eggs, one after another, mixing well after each one. Mix in the flours, baking powder, baking soda and yogurt. Tranfer to the lined cake pan. 

4. Wash, peel and slice the pears. Evenly cover the surface of the batter with fruits and sprinkle with muscovado sugar. Add the crumb topping you prepared earlier. 

5. Bake for an hour and 10 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Leave to cool completely. 

BON APPÉTIT !