I've had a bit of a hankering for some sort of cakey something with pears and almond meal so last night I twisted a recipe together and surprised the kiddos with some cake and vanilla bean yoghurt for dessert.
They have been super helpers for the last couple of days and nothing says thankyou like a cuddle & kiss and bit of a sweet treat, better still an after dinner one because it is a total rarity in this house!
Pear & Almond Cake - Makes 16 pieces
Ingredients
180g Unsalted Butter, Softened
100g Brown Sugar + 2 Tbs extra
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
3 Eggs
120g Wholemeal SR flour
100g Almond Meal
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp baking Soda
1/2 Cup Buttermilk
4 Small Pears (I used Lemon Bergamot, they are my favourite) peeled and sliced
Method
Preheat your oven to 160C
Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla together, I waited for the butter to be at room temperature and used a hand whisk but feel free to use something more powerful.
Once it's looking nice and light add the eggs one at a time, whisking until each is just incorporated.
Add your dry ingredients and start to fold into the wet mix before adding the buttermilk.
Finish folding through and smooth into a standard square or round cake pan. I used my favourite 20cm silicon square.
Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes then pull it out and spread your pears evenly over the top. Sprinkle with the extra 2 Tbs brown sugar and pop it back into the oven for another 30 minutes or until cooked through.
Serve warm dolloped with vanilla yoghurt (or cream or icecream) but the vanilla yoghurt is nice and tangy against the pears.
This is bit of a decadent treat and Ill be twisting it into a lower cal version for my 12WBT friends.
The perfect sort of thing to partner with an afternoon cup of tea.
Speaking of tea, I'm off to T2 at lunchtime to stock up on some yummy teas...any favourites you want to reccomend for me?
Tatum xx