Roasted Pear and Ginger Baked Pancake

I thought I’ll have baked pancake for breakfast yesterday but it did not happen simply because I decided to have Japanese sweet potato with Laughing Cow cheese at the last minute.  It happens more often than not- me planning on something; even shopping for ingredients only to change course at some point and make something else.  Today, I almost forgot about it but for some reason glanced at the fruit tray and saw the pears I bought and felt guilty.  Oh no, I have to put them to use lest they end up in the trash again- a really bad practice considering they could be pricey at times.  

When I think of pears as topping for anything, ginger comes to mind second.  I just feel that the fruit needs something to complement it and ginger fits the role to a T.  It's so good that I don't bother fish out the ginger pieces after roasting.  They're shaved ever so thin so it comes out candy-like; soft and chewy!  Here's how I made it:

Roasted Pear and Ginger Baked Pancake

Ingredients:
*halve the ingredients for the batter if using pie plate

For the topping 
3 small D'Anjou pears-peeled, cored and sliced thinly
2-inch ginger- peeled and shaved thinly
3 tbsp granulated white sugar

Preheat oven to 375 F
Scatter the pears and shaved ginger on the lightly greased skillet
Sprinkle with sugar and bake for 30-35 minutes or until lightly golden and tender (occasionally toss with a fork)
Set aside to cool

For the batter:

4 large eggs, separated

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup milk

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3 tbsp granulated sugar

2 tbsp unsalted butter

roasted pears with ginger

powdered sugar for dusting

clover honey (optional)

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Place 2  tbsp unsalted butter in the middle of the skillet; allow to melt and swirl to evenly distribute 

Beat the egg whites until stiff, set aside

Mix together egg yolks, flour, baking powder, sugar and milk

Fold in egg whites into the batter

Remove the skillet from the oven and pour the batter

Arrange the roasted pears on top

Bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean and top is light golden

Remove from the oven and drizzle with honey or sprinkle with powdered sugar upon serving  

Look at how puffed it is... I wish you could have some too!  Suddenly I think of Ms. K.  she will love this!