Recipe - Della Robbia Pound Cake

CAKE
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup Sugar
3 lg Eggs
2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
1 One half teaspoon Finely grated peeled
fresh gingerroot
1 cup Unsifted allpurpose flour
1 teaspoon Baking powder
One half teaspoon Salt
2 tablespoon Rum (opt.)

FRUIT GARLAND
2 cup Cranberryjuice cocktail
1 cup Sugar
One half cup Port or red wine
1 Lemon, quartered
2 Drops red food coloring
(opt.)
2 small Firm Anjou pears
1 cup Water
10 Thin strips orange peel
One fourth cup Apple jelly
One half cup Champagne grapes, preferably
in clusters (if not
available, substitute small
red seedless grapes)

1. Prepare Cake, Heat oven to 325'F. Grease and flour a 10inch ring mold
or tube pan. In large bowl, with electric mixer at medium speed, beat
butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating
well after each addition. Beat in vanilla and gingerroot until well
blended.

2. In small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. With mixer at low
speed, beat flour mixture into butter mixture just until combined. Spread
batter evenly in prepared pan and bake 30 to 35 minutes or until cake
tester inserted in center comes out clean. (Meanwhile, begin step 3.) Cool
cake in pan on wire rack 10 minutes; invert the pan onto wire rack and
unmold the cake. Sprinkle rum over cake, if desired, and cool completely.

3. Prepare Fruit Garland: In 3quart saucepan, combine cranberry juice, 1/2
C sugar, the port, 2 lemon quarters, and the food coloring, if desired.
Heat to boiling over low heat; simmer, stirring occasionally while you
prepare fruit. Peel one pear and cut in half vertically; remove core from
both halves. Place one pear half in simmering juice mixture. After 5
minutes cut remaining pear half in wedges about 1/4inch thick and add to
juice mixture. Simmer 2 minutes longer or until wedges are barely tender.
Remove from heat and let pear half and wedges stand in juice mixture 1 hour
or until they are rosecolored.

4. In small saucepan, combine water, remaining One half C sugar, and 2 lemon
quarters; heat to boiling, stirring occasionally. Avoiding the core, cut
remaining pear, unpeeled, into 1/4inchthick wedges. Drop wedges in
simmering sugar mixture and cook 2 to 3 minutes or until just tender;
remove with slotted spoon to drain on paper towels and set aside.

5. Heat sugar mixture to boiling over high heat; cook until mixture reduces
to a heavy syrup about 12 minutes. Reduce heat to low and add orangepeel
strips; cook until softabout 5 minutes. With fork, remove strips to small
dish and set aside to cool completely.

6. To decorate cake, drain rosecolored pear half and wedges on paper
towel; cut the pear half into 1/4inchthick wedges for slices that are
white inside with a thin rosecolored band around edge. In small bowl in
microwave or small saucepan over low heat, melt apple jelly. Brush top of
cake with some jelly; arrange all 3 kinds of pear slices in a leaflike
garland on top of cake. Brush slices with remaining apple jelly. Arrange
small clusters of grapes among pear slices and scatter candied orangepeel
strips over top. Serve or cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate
until serving.

Country Living/December/92 Scanned & fixed by Di Pahl & gg

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini