There is a breed of cake that seems designed for the cake dome. These humble treats, often free from icing or much by way of frippery, are ideal for living on the table or counter, under said dome for an anytime pick-me-up. Consider a snitched slice nibbled out of hand with coffee, tucked with milk into a lunchbox or presented with a fork after dinner. These are the easy cakes that feel suited to these days as vacations end and school begins again.
This cake can be eaten warm and fresh from the oven – accompanied by a spoon of crème fraîche ideally – but it improves with at least a few hours age. What started out as a pillowy cake with pudding-like smudges of tahini delineated from the crumb settles into something denser. The juices from the pears soak into the tahini below and both seep into the cake to establish a fudgy middle, while the edge retains a chew akin to a brownie plucked from the corner of the pan.