Try again:   Major fail on the Lake Country Pear And Walnut Cake--but It was ALL my fault . . .
Tried to bake this, strictly by the recipe and decided, (because I had a wild hare up my a**, I guess) that the recipe did not give the baking time accurately.
I checked at around 35 minutes, and pressed the top to test.  FAIL (should have tested with a toothpick).  Decided to take it out of the oven then.  FAIL (should have cooked it to the time the recipe said).  I DID take it out of the the oven early. FAIL (WHY didn't I listen to the recipe--it wuz screamin' at me.  Is this what it meant by selective perception!!?).  Since I cooked it in  a glass baking pan, I had set it upon a wet towel on a cookie sheet to keep the bottom and corners from burning.  Semi-FAIL (this normally works, but since I did not cook long  enough, it just exacerbated the under-cooking effect).
Upon eating the cake had the consistency of a pudding.--Or maybe a really thick gravy; a somewhat fluffy gravy.  BUT we had it with some good ice cream. (Success!).  One of the friends who ate with us actually asked for seconds (with Ice Cream, of course).
I WILL be making this again, but will have plenty of toothpicks around to test.