National Baking Week - Pear & Chocolate Cake!

19/10/2016

Howdy fellow bakers! Here's the first of our recipes we're sharing this week in celebration of National Baking Week...

Take it away Kath, what are we baking today?


Pear & Chocolate Cake – best served warm with a spoonful of vanilla ice-cream or clotted cream, delicious!

What you'll need:

Loaf tin 20 cm x 10 cm – greased & lined.

Heat oven 180 C fan

Recipe:

The pears...

  • Peel, core & halve 2 conference pears long.
  • Dissolve 200g of golden granulated sugar in 500ml water in a saucepan that allows the pears to sit tightly in the bottom without too much space between
  • Add the zest & juice of 1 lemon and 1 orange
  • Add 1 stick of cinnamon or spice of your choice – star anise, all spice, cloves all work well
  • Poach the pears for about 15 minutes or until tender

The cake...

  • Cream 225g of softened butter with 225g golden caster sugar by hand or in a mixer
  • Weigh 225g self-raising flour
  • Beat 4 eggs & add gradually to the butter and sugar mix with the whisk on a low speed
  • If the mix starts to split add a small amount of the flour and carry on mixing
  • Add the remainder of the flour in small stages using the paddle attachment, without over mixing – this keeps the air in & helps create a light sponge
  • Roughly chop the cooled poached pears & gently fold into the cake mix
  • Fold through 100g of best quality dark chocolate drops
  • Pour mix into lined tin and bake in oven for 40 to 50 minutes or until a metal skewer comes out clean from the centre of the cake

 Cool if you like, or slice & eat straight away :)


I don't know about you but my tummy is rumbling away now! Let us know in the comments below if you do give this a go! We'd love to see your baking snaps :)