Apple and pear season is upon us and everyone in Armagh will be starting to pick the fresh fruits from the trees for more than just cider. I am lucky to have very kind neighbours with great apple and pear trees who always treat me with an abundance of fruit for my chutneys.
This week, however, I am focusing on two pear recipes which are sure to satisfy your sweet tooth – pear and chocolate cake, and pear and almond tart. Enjoy baking these at home and let the sweet aromas drift through your kitchen.
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Pear and Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
(Serves 8)
- 50g granulated sugar
- 2 pears, peeled, cored and cut into lengths
- 150g dark chocolate
- 90g unsalted butter, cubed
- 90g caster sugar
- 90g ground almonds
- 3 eggs, separated
- 1 tsp cocoa powder for dusting
- Icing sugar for dusting
Method
- Preheat oven to 180C.
- To poach the pears, combine the sugar with 500ml of water and place on the hob on a medium heat, adding in the pears. Poach for 15 minutes, drain and leave to the side.
- To melt the chocolate, place in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of water. Once melted, add in the butter and remove from the heat. Stir well and leave to cool (but not set). Next, mix in the caster sugar and ground almonds.
- Grease a cake tin and dust with the cocoa powder.
- Whisk the egg whites into soft peaks and fold in the cake mix. Place in the cake tin, arranging the pear pieces from the centre out.
- Bake for 40 minutes, check by placing a skewer in the middle which will come out clean when baked through.
- Leave to cool, then remove from the tin and dust with icing sugar and serve.
Pear and Almond tart
Ingredients
(Serves 8)
For the pastry:
- 225g plain flour
- 100g butter
- 25g caster sugar
- 1 egg
- Milk to bind mix
For the almond filling:
- 225g butter
- 225g caster sugar
- 4 eggs
- 175g ground almonds
- 50g plain flour
- Lemon zest
For the pears:
- 4 pears
- 100g butter
- 75g caster sugar
Method
- Preheat the oven to 160C.
- For the pastry, place all the ingredients into a food processor using milk to bind the mix and make a soft dough. Remove from the food processor and wrap in clingfilm, placing in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Next, roll out the pastry and place in a greased 20cm tart tin. Cover the pastry with greaseproof paper, pressing it into the tin and adding baking beans to weigh the paper down.
- Bake for 15 minutes and then remove beans and paper and bake for a further five minutes until crisp and dry. Take out of the oven and leave to the side for 20 minutes before filling.
- To prepare the filling, cream the butter and sugar and add the eggs one at a time. Now, add in the flour and almonds, finishing with the lemon zest.
- For the pears, peel, de-core and cut into lengths and gently fry in butter and sugar until soft. Once cooked, remove from the pan, spread the almond filling into the pastry case and place the pears flat side down into the filling surface. Bake for 45 minutes at 160C until the filling is set. Best served with a chocolate sauce.
