apparently it's good cake

So it's cake-baking time again. My usual gift at birthdays. I set this Pear Streusel Cake recipe aside a few months ago thinking it would be perfect for my mom: no icing, not too big, and of course, pears. What I failed to remember was how much work would go into it. Not that I'm complaining; I only undertake baking like this on weekends when I have more time. Also the finished product was definitely worth it.

First I made the streusel and set that aside. Then I peeled and sliced my pears: Anjou, which looked better at the grocery store and were just the right amount of ripe after four days on the counter. Then I made the cake batter. I'm still not great at dividing batter; my pear layer was closer to the bottom of the cake than the original recipe's picture. But otherwise, it's a beautiful cake, especially with the powdered sugar dusted on top. And the different layers complement each other nicely, with the crunch of the streusel, the seriously moist cake (really, really, good) and the spiced pears, which were not as overwhelmingly gingerly as I feared.

******
In other random news, I successfully froze fresh blueberries and thawed them for pancakes yesterday. They pretty much retained their original texture and juiciness--fun for swirling in your maple syrup.