Pear and almond cake

Serves:

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 150g butter
• ¾ cup caster sugar
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 150g almond meal
• 2 tablespoons self-raising flour
• 2 just ripe pears

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line a 23cm round cake tin with baking paper.

Sprinkle brown sugar over the paper.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy (electric mixer, food processor or with a spoon), add eggs one at a time until well combined.

Add almond meal, flour and cream, beat until smooth.

Quarter and core pears (I like to leave skin on…more fibre and all that) and slice vertically.

Layer the pear slices in the tin and then spoon in cake mix. It is easiest to press the batter down using your hands – wet them with a bit of cold water first.

Bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Allow cake to cool; use a knife to run around the edges of the cake and then carefully invert onto a serving plate.

Notes:

• Spectacular cake, rich and moist. Perfect for spoiling-Mum-week.
• Make this cake gluten-free by using two tablespoons of gluten-free plain flour (e.g. Orgran) or rice flour; don’t worry about baking powder.
• Recipe created by Melissa Hughes for Kidspot.

Serving Suggestions

Note