Pear-Toffee Cake Donuts

I made some salted butter caramel ice cream the other day that was sooooo good. I was inspired by the praline/toffee bits that were used as a mix-in for the ice cream. I thought it would taste great on a donut. Pear pairs well with toffee, so I made a pear cake donuts.

These turned out really moist and have a subtle flavor. I don't know that anyone could really identify the pear flavor in the donut, unfortunately. It may as well have been apple, but I still like it. I just don't know that I would bother with pear again. I may try using apple next time. Pear is such a subtle flavor, it's easy to overwhelm it by combining it with other ingredients. I even cooked it down and carmelized it a bit, adding some freshly grated pear while mixing the donuts.

I think the only way to be able to get the pear flavor would be to make a fresh pear compote and use it as a filling. I'm going to think about it. Anyway, the toffee idea worked out well. I could see using this on lots of different flavors. It has a bit of fleur de sel in it, which makes it all that much more delicious!