I’ve still got a crazy amount of pears to work my way through. And it’s glorious. I wrote about being given too many pears last week and I’ve not yet run out of things to bake with them!
The weather in Sydney turned pretty dismal this week, so I’ve been poaching and baking and snuggling up with Norman at every opportunity.
It’s also the first day of Autumn today! This cake is perfect for Autumn because it’s not quite heavy enough for a Winter’s pudding, but it’s not too Summery either because of the almondy hints and the caramel notes created by the brown sugar. The chocolate and cardamom mingle beautifully to create warm, rich little mouthfuls, while the pear brings a lovely moistness to the cake.
Best served sprinkled with icing sugar, as it needs very little accompaniment. If you’re feeling especially indulgent on a dreary, rainy day, serve warm, with a dollop thick cream.
Chocolate cardamon pear cake
- 180g butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup almond meal
- 1 cup self-raising flour
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 100g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
- 2 pears
Preheat your oven to 180°C and grease and line a 21cm cake tin.
Cream together the butter and brown sugar until pale. Add in the eggs, followed by your almond meal. Sift in the self-raising flour and add in the milk to thin out the mixture. Mix the cardamom into the batter thoroughly, then fold the chocolate chunks in as well.
Peel and core your pears, then cut them into thin wedges. Arrange the wedges around the cake in whatever fashion you like, pressing them in slightly. I tend to organise them so that they fit neatly into slices once the cake is cooked.
Pop the cake in the oven for 50 minutes. Remove when a cake inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool before removing from the tin – this cake is delicate, so needs a little extra care.
