Black Sesame & Pear Tea Cake

I stumbled across this recipe in Bon Apetit magazine and thought it sounded so unique! The black sesame seeds turn the cake a dark bluish-purple color and give it  a nutty flavor. This cake has a faint peanut butter essence.

Ingredients:
1/2cup(1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup almond flour or almond meal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup black sesame seeds
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup greek yogurt
1(medium) firm but ripe Asian pear, peeled, cored, cut into small cubes

Preheat oven to 325°.Grease one 9x5x3-inch loaf pan or two smaller loaf pans. Whisk 1 1/2 cups flour, next 4 ingredients, and 2 Tbsp. sesame seeds in a medium bowl. Grind remaining 1/2 cup sesame seeds in a coffee grinder to form a thick paste.

Using an electric mixer, beat 1/2 cup butter and 1 cups sugar in a large bowl until well combined, 2–3 minutes. Add sesame paste and beat, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl, until blended, 1–2 minutes. Add egg and egg yolk. Beat until pale and fluffy, 3–4 minutes. On low speed, beat in flour mixture, alternating with yogurt. Toss pear with remaining 2 Tbsp. flour in a small bowl; fold into batter.

Spoon batter into prepared pan; smooth top. Sprinkle with remaining 2 Tbsp. sugar.

Bake until a tester comes out clean when inserted into center, about 1 hour 40 min for large loaf and 45–55 minutes for small loaves. Let cool in pans on a wire rack.

Note: Next time I would layer the pears in the loaf so that each slice has pears in it.