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Hidden pear cake

  • Serves 4 - 6
  • Prep time: 20 mins | Cooking time: 50 mins + 15 mins cooling

This dessert is a must try this winter and will definitely be a crowd favourite. It’s light and sweet, and so deliciously decadent. Elevated with caramel and ice cream for serving, the pears are still the star of this dish.

Ingredients

  • 4 medium pears (firm is best)
  • 3 eggs
  • ½ cup milk
  • ½ cup flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ⅓ cup caster sugar
  • 3 Tbsp melted butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • Icing sugar to dust
  • Caramel sauce to serve
  • Ice cream or whipped cream to serve

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C bake. Brush a loaf tin with oil and line with baking paper.
  2. Peel, core and thinly slice the pears.
  3. In a large bowl, combine eggs, milk, flour, baking powder, caster sugar, melted butter and vanilla essence and whisk.
  4. Next add the pears and gently fold to coat in the mixture.
  5. Transfer the mixture to the loaf tin, arranging the pear slices so that they sit evenly.
  6. Bake for 45 - 50 minutes until golden brown on top and the liquid has set. The texture should be thick custard-like. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a baking rack for 15 minutes before carefully lifting out of the tin and slicing.
  7. Dust with icing sugar, drizzle with caramel sauce and serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

Top tips:

  1. This recipe is more of a wet baked custard style of cake, so we do recommend leaving it to cool in the tin before turning it out onto a rack.
  2. Line the loaf tin both lengthways and on the short edge, with the baking paper hanging over the edge of the tin for easy removal once baked. We recommend spraying the tin with oil or brushing with butter to stick the paper in and keep the cake from sticking to the tin.
  3. Choose firm pears such as Bosc, Packham or crisp varieties like the NZ Piqa Boo pears work well in this recipe. Pears which are more ripe and softer won’t hold their shape during baking.
  4. If using tinned pears, drain thoroughly and pat dry before using. If they have been in syrup, reduce the sugar added to ¼ cup.
  5. Dusting the pears lightly with flour before layering will help them hold their shape and not sink as much into the batter.
  6. Make this recipe dairy-free with a dairy alternative such as unsweetened soy milk, which adds a creamy texture to the cake. Use dairy-free butter or margarine instead of butter.
  7. Make this recipe gluten-free by substituting regular flour with almond flour. As almond flour is denser, the cake texture will be slightly different.
  8. For a spiced twist, substitute the vanilla or ginger powder, cinnamon, or a combination of both.
  9. You can also make this in a round 20cm cake tin, the cake will be thinner as it is spread out more but will take less time to bake (around 30-40 minutes).
  10. Make this a chocolate pear cake but adding 1-2 tablespoons of cocoa powder into the flour mixture.