Ep 14: Pear, Almond and Ginger Cake
Tinned pears are underrated
In this episode I gave a run down of lots of things that go well with pears in baking, before talking about this simply delicious (and easy to make) pear, ginger and almond cake. It's very easy, and has lots of textures and gorgeous flavours that go well together, including the correct level of ginger.
Pear, Ginger and Almond Cake - adapted from Rukmini Iyer
Ingredients:
60g salted butter (or just use unsalted with a pinch of salt)
125g light or dark brown sugar (plus a few pinches)
115g plain flour with 2/3 tsp baking powder (or use self-raising flour)
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp vanilla paste (optional)
100ml/g milk (whole or semi-skimmed by preference)
1 UK large egg (US extra large - c. 60g in weight)
1 415g (drained weight 230g) tin of pear halves, cut in half again (a tin of pear quarters would work well, too)
a couple of handfuls of flaked almonds
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180 C / 160 fan / 350 F. Grease and flour, or grease and line, an appropriate sized dish for a small cake. Mine was 20cm across and round.
2. Cream the butter and sugar for a few minutes. Add a tablespoon of flour, then the egg and mix well. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix well (no need to over-do it, though). Mix in the milk.
3. Transfer the cake batter to the tin. Push in the pear quarters in a nice, evenly distributed pattern. Sprinkle over the pinches of brown sugar, followed by the flaked almonds.
4. Bake for about 20 minutes, covering the top with foil if the almonds look too brown (or just add toasted ones at the end). Leave to cool slightly before serving warm, or to cool completely if serving as a cake rather than a pudding. (This is because the crumb will get compressed if you slice it when warm.)