Upside-Down Pear Cake -

Upside-Down Pear Cake

Ingredients

25 g (1 oz) demerara sugar
822 g (1 lb 12 oz) can pear halves in syrup, drained, syrup reserved
75 g (3 oz) glacé cherries, halved
225 g (8 oz) butter, softened
225 g (8 oz) caster sugar
4 eggs, beaten
225 g (8 oz) self-raising flour, sifted
100 g (4 oz) walnuts, chopped
2 tablespoons (30 ml) milk
3 tablespoons (45 ml) maple syrup

Details

Serves: 8

Method

1 Grease and line a 20 cm (8 inch) round, deep, loose-bottomed tin.

2 Sprinkle the demerara sugar over the base of the tin. Pat the pears dry on kitchen paper. Put a cherry half in the hollowed core of 8 pear halves. Arrange, rounded side up, in the base of the tin.

3 Beat together the butter and caster sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, a little at a time, beating well after each addition. Toss the remaining cherry halves in flour and then fold into the creamed mixture with the flour, walnuts and milk.

4 Spoon the mixture into the cake tin. Level the surface and place on the top shelf of a preheated oven, 180˚C (350˚F), Gas Mark 4, for 1¼ hours, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cover the top with foil if the cake is over-browning during cooking. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes.

5 Meanwhile, put 225 ml (8 fl oz) of the reserved pear syrup and the maple syrup in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes or until reduced by half.

6 Turn the cake on to a plate and drizzle over the hot syrup.

PREPARATION TIME: 25 MINUTES
COOKING TIME: 1 HOUR 25 MINUTES
OVEN TEMPERATURE: 180˚C (350˚F), GAS MARK 4

Related food category:

• Teatime Favourite