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Preheat the oven to 350° F
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Melt the butter in a saucepan with the scraped vanilla bean seeds, and vanilla pod, and cook for 5 minutes on medium heat, until it starts to foam, and browns a bit. Remove the vanilla pod, and pour into a separate cup to cool off.
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Sift the flours, cornstarch, salt and sugar.
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Whisk in the egg whites, and stir vigorously.
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Add the melted butter, and whisk until a sticky dough forms.
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Liberally grease a muffin pan with softened butter (the consistency of mayonnaise), or use muffin liners.
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Distribute the dough evenly, filling each muffin cup halfway.
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Peel and core the pears. Cut them in half lengthwise, then again crosswise, and slice them thinly.
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Arrange a few pear slices on top of each cake.
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Bake for 30-35 minutes.
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While the cakes are baking, prepare the quick caramelized hazelnut topping: place the sugar in a dry pan, over high heat until it begins to caramelize. Add the butter, the pinch of salt, and the hazelnuts, and stir to combine. Remove from the heat and spread over parchment paper. Let cool completely, and break into pieces.
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Once the cakes are out of the oven, top each with the caramelized hazelnuts.