13Jun '10

Pear and almond cake

: Pear and almond cake

I made this cake at the weekend with leftover tinned pears. Unfortunately, there weren’t quite enough pears left so I added a few peach slices too. The peach worked well but this is designed to be made with just pears and if you have enough you should cover the whole base of your cake tin with them! Serve it either way up.

Ingredients:

6 oz flour
4 oz butter
2 oz vegetable oil
6 oz caster sugar
1 vanilla pod
1 teaspoon almond essence
2 eggs
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 tin of pear quarters with juice, sliced
1 teaspoon of honey
Some grated nutmeg and a pinch of ground cinnamon

Method:

Cream the butter, oil and sugar together
Add the eggs and beat them in along with the vanilla seeds and almond essence
Pour in the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda
Beat well to a smooth mixture
Place the slices of pear over the bottom of a greased cake tin
Pour the cake mix over the pears and bake at 170 degrees C for 20-25 minutes
When the cake has cooked, test with a skewer and set on a wire rack to cool in the tin
After 5-10 minutes remove the side of the tin or flip it to remove the cake
In a pan, heat the juice from the can of pears with some honey and the spices
When it has reduced to a thick syrup pour it over the cake
Serve alone, or with a dollop of crème fraîche or mascarpone