Mini Italian Pear and Apple Cakes

I saw a recipe that looked interesting for French Apple Cake, but I wanted to make a cupcake sized one, and I had many pears that were ripe. So I made these!
 

Ingredients:

• 2 medium apples (about 11 ounces, or 320 gr)
• 2 large pears (about 25 ounces, or 700 grams)
• 10 tbsp - 150g butter
• 2/3 cup – 80g all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp - 16g of baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• pinch of salt (if using unsalted butter)
  
• .5 cup of white sugar
• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup - 150 g of craisins
• 1 tbsp - vanilla
• 4 ounces - 120 grams cream (I used vanilla yogurt)

Instructions:

1. Soak the craisins in warm water - use enough water to barely cover.
2. Preheat your oven to 325°F.
3. Melt the butter gently in a microwave.
   (I sliced the butter into pats, and heated it in stages.)
4. Mix the cinnamon and baking powder into the flour.
   (Mix in a pinch of salt if using unsalted butter.)
   
5. Add 1/2 of the flour, whisk in until smooth. Add in half the remaining flour, whisk in, then the final bit of flour.
6. Whisk in the sugar and mix well.
   
   
   
   
7. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time. The batter should be very smooth.
   
   
   
   
8. Line 24 cupcake wells with cupcake liner, spritzing each liner with cooking spray.(Or use a 9" springform cake pan lined with parchment paper that is sprayed with cooking spray.)
9. Peel the apples and pears, cut out the cores and stes, and dice into 1/4" cubes cubes.
   
   
   
   
10. Microwave the apples for 2 to 3 minutes on a plate to soften them a little.
11. Drain the craisins.
12. Fold the pears, apples, and craisins into the batter.
13. Warm up the cream (or yogurt) gently in a microwave, then fold into the batter.
    
    
    
    
14. Scoop about 1/3 a cup of batter into every cupcake well. Leave about 1/8" at the top.
    (Or add all the batter to the lined cake pan.)
    
    
    
    
15. Bake the cupcakes for 25 to 30 minutes. You might wait to broil the tops for 1 to 2 minutes to give them a little more color.
    (Bake the cake for about 60 minutes.)
16. Let mini cakes cool in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool.
    (Let the 9" cake cool for around an hour before removing the pan sides.)
17. If desired, dust with powdered to finish.

 

Carole's Notes:

We liked these! Nelson (who has been eating most of my Sunday recipes) said this one is his favorite.

The recipe is lightly adapted from https://recipe30.com/italian-apple-cake.html/