Pear, ginger and almond cake: a loose, damp, forgiving bake for a wet weekend
Conference pears are at their best this month and this one-bowl cake with stem ginger makes the most of them
Pears are a difficult fruit. They are hard for a fortnight, ripe for an afternoon and brown mush by teatime, which is why I almost never eat them raw and almost always bake them. This cake was devised for a bowl of Conference pears from a stall at Hereford market, £1.80 for six, that had gone from bullet-hard to perfect in the space of a drive home.
It is a simple almond sponge, the kind that stays moist for days, with slices of pear pressed into the top and a syrupy hit of stem ginger running through it. The pears sink a little as it bakes and the ginger syrup, brushed on at the end, keeps the top sticky. It is, frankly, better on day two.
Ingredients (serves 8): 175g soft unsalted butter, plus extra for the tin; 175g golden caster sugar; 3 large eggs; 100g ground almonds; 100g self-raising flour; 1 tsp baking powder; 1 tsp ground ginger; 3 balls of stem ginger in syrup, finely chopped, plus 3 tbsp of the syrup; 3 ripe but firm pears; 20g flaked almonds; a pinch of salt.
Method. Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan). Butter a 20cm springform tin and line the base with baking paper. Beat the butter and sugar together for 3-4 minutes until pale and fluffy, then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each and adding a spoonful of the flour if it looks like splitting.
Fold in the ground almonds, flour, baking powder, ground ginger and salt until just combined, then stir through the chopped stem ginger and 1 tbsp of the syrup. The batter will be thick; that is right. Scrape it into the tin and level the top.
Peel, halve and core the pears, then cut each half into slices about half a centimetre thick, keeping the stem end attached so each half fans out. Lay the fans on top of the batter, pressing them in lightly, and scatter over the flaked almonds.
Bake for 50-55 minutes until the top is deep gold and a skewer pushed into the sponge, not the fruit, comes out clean. If the almonds are browning too fast after 35 minutes, cover loosely with foil. Leave in the tin for 10 minutes, then brush the top with the remaining 2 tbsp of ginger syrup while it is still warm and release the sides.
Serve warm with crème fraîche, or cold with a cup of tea. Wrapped in foil it keeps for four days, and a slice warmed through in a low oven on day three with a spoon of custard is the best thing you will eat all week.
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