I’ve had a lot of pictures lately in my social media of the French invisible apple cake recipe. This cake has 2 pounds of apples bursting from its seams, yet its texture is like a soft custard. I read that the reason it works well is that the apple pectin allows the fruit to melt into the filling, making it almost indistinguishable in the cake.

I happen to know that nashi, or Asian pears, are mostly pectin, too. I’ve made pretty much every possible apple recipe with nashi instead and have been happy with the results. My parents have nashi trees in their backyard, and in the last few years they’ve been overladen with fruits. Most of them can’t grow to full ripeness due to lack of space, but we still are happy with the number that come to fruition.

This invisible nashi cake was like custard and the edges were caramelized. The fruit slicing and arranging was a bit tedious, but still, this recipe couldn’t be easier. It doesn’t rise much, so a deep bread loaf tin was fine. As long as there’s an ounce of room at the top of the pan you shouldn’t get any spillover. Although I’ve seen this style of cake baked in a shallower round cake pan and spread out, I think it makes a more royal impression in the rectangle shape as you get the full effect of the layers.

You may serve this with a caramel sauce or powdered sugar, but I found it unnecessary. If it’s for dessert, you could also add a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of cream.

Invisible Nashi Cake

Ingredients:

• 3 nashi or Asian Pears (over 2 pounds)

• 3 eggs

• 3/4 cup sugar

• 3 tablespoons butter, melted

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 cup whole milk

• 1 cup flour (can be gluten-free blend)

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

Directions:

Heat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a bread loaf pan (should be at least 3 inches deep on the inside) by laying a piece of parchment across the bottom and letting it overhang on the long sides of the pan (like a sling). Spray the pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs for 2-3 minutes, until the color has lightened and it flows like a batter. Add the butter, salt and milk, and whisk until uniform. Whisk in the flour and baking powder just until combined. If the flour is gluten-free, whisk in the flour first thoroughly, and then stir in the baking powder. Gluten-free flour has a tendency to be grainy unless you let it soak a bit before baking.

Peel nashi and cut into quarters. Cut the core out of the quarters with a flat cut so the edge is straight. Thinly slice the fruit. It shouldn’t be paper thin, but as thin as you can get it by hand without a mandoline. As you cut the fruit, add the slices to the batter and fold them in to prevent them from browning from sitting exposed to the air.

Once you have sliced and added all of the nashi, you’ll transfer them to the bread pan, overlapping the slices in layers and try to line up the straight sides with the edges of the pan. The pattern really doesn’t need to be perfect. Pour the rest of the batter over the top and tap the pan on the countertop a couple of times to allow it to settle down between the cracks. Bake the cake for an hour and let cool without removing it from the pan for at least 90 minutes. You can serve the cake at room temperature or store in the fridge and eat cold.

Makes one 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch cake.

Mariko Jackson writes about family and food. Email her at thelittlefoodie@gmail.com.