Happy first day of spring! Okay not exactly the spring weather that we were hoping for here in Auckland but we have seen the back of winter, which always puts me in a good mood!
You may have read on facebook that we celebrated my 7 year old boy’s birthday on the weekend. Saturday we had a family lunch of his favourite food, pasta (of course) and finished with cake. I decided to make one that I haven’t done in years but knew is a goodie; pear and chocolate cake. Really it should be called pear, chocolate and caramel cake because the pear simmers in caramel and then lines the bottom of the cake tin, which creates this delicious sticky caramel topping.
Not only is this cake utterly delicious, it really has that wow effect when the entire cake sits on a serving plate.
For the caramel:
80g butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
NB: I ended up putting pouring only half of the above ingredients into the cake tin to keep the richness to a minimal and for a few less calories and it works just fine although I do recommend going for the full experience, at least the first time!
4 small pears, peeled, halved and cored
Preheat the oven to 180°c . Place the butter, sugar and water in a frying pan and melt butter over a medium heat. Add the pears to the pan cut side down and cook for about 5 minutes or until slightly soft.
Line a 23cm round cake tin. Arrange the pears cut side down on the base and pour over caramel (see my note above about how I used half). Set aside.
For the cake:
185g butter (soft)
1 ½ cups brown sugar
3 eggs
2 cups self-raising flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
Beat the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy, add eggs one at a time and mix well. Sift the flour and cocoa into the bowl and mix well until everything is combined.
Spoon the mixture over the pears, smooth the top and bake for 50-60 minutes or until cooked through.
Cool for about 10 minutes and then invert onto a serving plate.
Recipe from the Marie Claire Flavours by Donna Hay.
Let me know if you give it a go. It really is super easy to make and okay I’ll say it again – delicious! Two days later and not a single slice left in the house.
Have a great start to the week everyone.
Mel xx
10 Comments
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happy belated birthday to your boy – the cake looks amazing…and a caramel sauce too! Yum!
Thanks Anastasia. Believe it or not it’s tomorrow but G is away so we had an early celebration for the family. I’m now about to make another cake for him to take to school tomorrow AND pancake mixture for the morning. It doesn’t stop – what we do in the name of love xx
I just found your site via a comment you left on Avenue Style and I have been devouring all of your posts, but this one in particular is something special! I need to make this asap – I’m so surprised by how few ingredients there are in it x
Hi Catherine, so lovely to have you here. Yes you should, it’s seriously good. Let me know if you do xx
It looks delicious, I make a similar one with a sticky pear top, but I reckon chocolate would make it even better! Hope your son enjoyed his birthday celebrations xx
He did thanks Emma. xx
It is good to be able to read and comment your posts again (Internet + summer did not work hand in hand at my place…)! This recipe brings in the wonderful smells of seasonal pears. Chocolate is a great friend of theirs, I’d say ;-) Great idea for Fall nights ahead to be spent by the stove & oven :-)
They are friends indeed. I hope you had a lovely summer break Donatina. We’re moving into spring which makes me feel revived again. M x
Happy Birthday to your 7 year old son. Wow, Chocolate, pear and caramel, what’s not to love, looks seriously yummy. We had a dubious first day of Spring here in Melbourne as well..poured with rain all day! We have sold the house and I’m now involved with slowly bringing back everything to the house we had in storage. What a process! Now have to start house hunting as well. If we don’t find something before December we’ll have to rent so your feature may come in very handy for me to read. xxx
Oh wow I’m so happy that you found a place. A huge job to move furniture back in only to move it out again! I bet in the process you got to throw a lot of stuff out which always helps. Good luck with the hunting, I hope you find the PERFECT home. Much love, M xx