Pear & chocolate cake

[kaberett]

P's mother and I made this on Friday night, taken from the Graun, and it was super tasty. So! Recording it for posterity.

5 under-ripe pears
180g dark chocolate
250g butter
6 eggs
175g sugar
100g ground almonds
2 tbsp Poire William liqueur

Peel, core, and cut the pears into eighths. Arrange them artistically in the bottom of a lined, greased tin (large! deep! 23cm!).

Melt chocolate and butter together. Meanwhile, beat eggs and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add chocolate to egg mix; stir well.

Fold in ground almonds.

Pour into tin; bake for around 45 minutes at 170degC. Pour on the booze (if using) immediately after removing from the oven, while permitting to cool. Once cooled, do the magic inverty thing (stick a plate over the top of the tin and flip it).

Nom!

I note that while we were putting it together I was a bit dubious about the omission of e.g. cinnamon. I was wrong. This does not need cinnamon. It might play nice with a tiny amount of cardamom, but you really really don't need to bother.

Comments

[jelazakazone]

I'm drooling.

[milkymoon]

That sounds brilliant and I should make this in future - you post the loveliest recipes.

[jesse_the_k]

That sounds great. I'm alcohol adverse: is the liqueur just for flavor or does it do some magic in the baking?

[kaberett]

Gets poured on at the end while the cake's cooling, and can perfectly well be omitted!

[alexseanchai]

OOOH NOM

um, liqueur. I don't think two tablespoons in a cake will fuck me up the way a glass of wine or a bottle of beer always seems to, but just in case, is there a good substitute?

[kaberett]

Honestly you can absolutely just skip it - it gets poured over at the end, but you absolutely don't need to do the thing. If you really want to then drizzling over a tablespoon of pear juice would probably work, but honestly it's probably not necessary!

[alexseanchai]

Nodnod, thanks!

[redbird]

I am not an almond fan, and am contemplating ground walnuts as a substitute.

[kaberett]

Sure! Because they can be on the bitter side I would probably in the first instance try macadamia or hazelnut (or if I was feeling super-enthusiastic and kind of flush, maybe pistachio?), but they'll definitely work.

[steorra]

Hmm .. Even a bit more of a stretch but I wonder if some non-nut seeds would work, like pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds ... Or even pine nuts - I can have those.

[kaberett]

I seem to recall that you're alright with wheat and gluten? If so, you can just sub in flour! But seeds sound interesting too, and if you give it a go I'd love to know how it turns out :-)

[aella_irene]

That looks both awesome and delicious. I know what I'm making when I need a cake!

(...I wonder if it will keep long enough that I can make it for my birthday brunch.)

[kaberett]

:D :D :D