RECIPE OF THE WEEK
Spiced Autumn Pear and Chocolate Cake
The changing of the season brings coloured leaves falling from the trees and the arrival of sweet, juicy pears. This cake is the perfect snack for an Autumnal afternoon. Curl up with a good book, a pot of tea and a slice of this rich, spiced cake.
Ingredients
Cake
- 125 g Butter, softened
- 125 g Caster Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 125 g Self Raising Flour
- 1 Pear, peeled and finely diced (5mm)
- 1 tsp Mixed Spice
Ganache
- 200 g Dark Chocolate, finely chopped
- 200 g Thickened Cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170 degrees celsius (fan forced).
- Grab a 20cm round cake tin, grease and baking paper line the base and sides of the tin.
- Take a large mixing bowl and add your softened butter and caster sugar. Beat with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add one egg and beat until it is fully incorporated, add the other and beat again until the eggs are combined. Add the self raising flour and mixed spice and fold it through the mixture using a wooden spoon or spatula. Add the finely diced pear and fold through the mixture.
- Pour the mixture into the centre of the cake tin and spread it out slightly. Pop in the oven for 20 minutes.
- Whilst the cake is cooking, you can make your chocolate ganache. Pour your cream into a heatproof bowl and microwave for 40 seconds. Add the chopped chocolate, stir to combine and heat for another 30 seconds. Take out of the microwave and stir again. Continue heating and stirring until you have a silky ganache. Set aside to cool.
- Check if the cake is cooked by inserting a skewer into the centre. If it comes out clean or with a couple of crumbs, remove the cake from the oven and set aside to cool. If the skewer has wet batter on it, pop the cake back in the oven for a further 5 minutes and check again.
- Once your cake is cool, you can decorate it with the chocolate ganache. If you want the ganache drizzled over the cake, heat for 10-20 seconds in the microwave and pour the ganache over. If you just want the top of the cake covered, you can use a palette knife to spread the ganache across the top. I popped some ganache in a piping bag and piped stars and decorated with slices of leftover pear.
Notes
- This cake freezes well without the ganache. So you can also make a couple of cakes if you have a surplus of pears.
- You can make the ganache several days in advance and store in the fridge.
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