If you want to challenge your baking skills during this time of quarantine, this cake is probably the right choice. It’s definitely not a complicated recipe, but there are some steps to follow. Your efforts will be rewarded with a fantastic wow-effect once you slice it and bite it!
This recipe comes from “The New Way to Cake” by Benjamina Ebuehi (participant of The Great British Bake Off). I made a few modifications to the original recipes, by substituting some of the ingredients (e.g. instead of molasses, I used honey; instead of crystallized ginger, I used ground ginger).
The final result is absolutely incredible!
For this cake I used a 30cm x 12cm.
Hidden Pear Cake
Ingredients
For the poached pears
For the cake
Instructions
-
Preheat oven at 170C. Grease the loaf tin and line the bottom and sides with baking parchment (2.5 cm high) - this will help you lift the cake out at the end.
-
Pour/place all the ingredients for the poached pears in a large pot. Place the pot on medium heat, add the pears and let them simmer for 15-20 minutes until they are tender (you can pierce them with a stick/fork to check that). Remove the pears from the liquid and set aside on a plate.
-
Prepare the cake. Take a large bowl and using an electric whisk, beat the butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes, until pale and fluffy.
-
Continue mixing with the electric whisk and add the eggs and honey. Set your whisk on low speed and gently pour in the flour, alternated with milk. Finally, add the baking powder, vanilla, and ginger, and mix well until you get a smooth batter.
-
Pour the batter in the loaf tin. Slice the base off of each pear (so that they can sit upright). Gently push them in the batter. Place the cake in the oven and bake for 50 minutes (or more, if necessary, up to 65 minutes). In order to check if the cake is cooked, insert a skewer in the middle of the cake: if it comes out dry and clean, it means that your cake is ready. NB: After the first 15 minutes you can open the oven and gently straighten up the pears if they have fallen.
-
Let the cake cool in the tin for half an hour before lifting it from the tin. If you can resist, leave to cool completely before taste a slice :)
