Oat and pear traybake with pecan crumble topping

  

I’m such a cliché but the first whiff of winter and I’m cracking open the spice jars like nobody’s business!  I found the recipe for the oat sponge and crumble topping on a recipe sharing website and decided that it needed an extra element.  Oats, spice and pecans led me to the very easy decision to add some pear to the mix.  Pear is one of my absolute favourite fruits to bake with.

The pear is fruity and juicy and stops the sponge being too dry or heavy.  The nutty crumble topping adds texture and richness; the dark sugar seeps into the cak almost like a sauce.  I served the cake at room temperature with a cup of tea but it would work so well warm with ice cream or custard.  You could even bake it in individual pudding moulds for a fancy dessert (but reduce the cooking time accordingly).

Adding fruit to a batter always increases the wetness during baking so it’s worth draining the tinned fruit and patting it dry with kitchen paper.  I think that without the addition of the fruit the sponge may have been a bit dry; the juice was absorbed by the oats making an almost fragrant sponge – imagine an oaty bread pudding and you’re pretty close.  Have I mentioned how much I love baking with pears?

I suspect it won’t be an issue, but the cake keeps really well for several days.  The pear keeps the cake soft, and the nuts in the crumble topping improve with age (unlike the baker!).

I took a photo of a slice and went for my obligatory ‘fork shot’.  Then I went for another...and another....and it ended up like this:

NB.  The crumbs were left on the plate for artistic purposes and were polished off the moment I put the camera down!  Waste not, want not etc.......

Ingredients

For the cake:

100g porridge oats
330ml boiling water
115g unsalted butter, at room temperature
220g dark brown soft sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
215g plain flour
1 tin diced pears – the tin was 410g with a drained weight of 225g

For the crumble:

100g dark brown soft sugar
10g plain flour
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
40g unsalted butter – cold
100g pecan nuts – roughly chopped

Method

Preheat the oven to 190C/ fan oven 170C/ 375F/ gas mark 5.

Grease a 30cm x 20cm traybake tin.

Cover the oats with the boiling water and put to one side.

Now make the crumble topping: Mix together the sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Rub in the butter until you have lumpy crumbs.

Stir in the chopped pecans.

Place in the fridge until needed; a cold crumble is always easier to scatter over the top as your hands won’t melt the butter as much.

Now return to making the cake: Beat the butter and sugar until soft and well combined – it will never go fluffy and whippy when you’re using dark sugar.

Beat in the eggs, vanilla and cinnamon.

Fold in the baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and plain flower.

If there is any, drain any unabsorbed liquid away from the oats and fold them into the mix.

Spoon the batter into the prepared tin. 

Drain the pears and pat them dry with some kitchen paper.

Scatter the diced pears over the batter and gently press down into the batter.

Sprinkle the chilled crumble over the top of the batter.

Bake for approximately 30-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Leave to cool in the tin before de-tinning and storing in an airtight container.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

Pear and cinnamon bake

I’ve been hit with a gastric flu-type bug for the latter half of this week, so no baking for me. However, I’ve raided my ‘secret unpublished archive’ (a girl should always hold something back!) and have this delight for you!

After an awful winter it does seem that spring might be in the offing – the nights are definitely drawing out. While this is good on practically every level, there is one level where I wish it was always winter: puddings. A good solid pud with custard or ice cream is never more comforting than during the miserable winter months, therefore I had to sneak this recipe in before my thoughts turned to lighter fare.

I thought the pear slices, gently frying in butter, looked beautiful:

This pudding doesn’t look all that in the bowl but when you turn it out and see all the gorgeous pear slices with thick treacly sauce glistening over and around them, you start to see the beauty!

I can’t really think of a fruit that cinnamon doesn’t compliment; this pudding could be made with apples or, simply by leaving out the frying stage, peaches, apricots, blackberries or nectarines.

The sponge turns deliciously squidgy as the treacle sauce sinks into it:

Ingredients:
For the pears:
2-3 pears, peeled, cored and quartered
Knob of butter

For the treacle:
25g unsalted butter
90g Demerara sugar
2 tablespoons golden syrup

For the batter:
125g unsalted butter
120g caster sugar
2 eggs
150g self raising flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons milk (whole or semi skimmed)

How to make:

- Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan oven 180°C/400°F/Gas mark 6.

- Generously grease a 1.2l pudding basin with butter. Make sure that the basin is ovenproof. I used an ovenproof glass basin.

- Cut the pear quarters through again in length so each pair is now cut into 8 chunky slices.

- Heat the knob of butter in a frying pan and fry the pears over a gentle heat just until they soften. Put to one side to cool.

- Now make the treacle: Place all the ingredients in a saucepan and cook over a medium heat until the sugar crystals have dissolved.

- Pour the treacle syrup into the prepared basin and then arrange the pear slices on top.

- Now make the batter: Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.

- Gradually beat in the eggs. If the mix looks like it might curdle add a little of the flour.

- Fold in the flour and cinnamon.

- Stir in the milk.

- Spoon the batter carefully over the pears. It won’t look like you have that much batter but it will be ample to cover the pears.

- Bake for 40-50 minutes until the cake appears to be cooked.

- Turn out the pudding onto a plate and serve hot with either custard or ice cream

- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.

- Eat.

Pear and almond upside down cake

This was meant to be a plum and almond upside down cake but my supermarket let me down and didn’t have any tinned plums....yes, I’m naming and shaming you, Tesco! So I improvised with these beautiful Cape pears.

I made two of these cakes and had a piece of one at room temperature (delicious – spongy and sticky and fruit) and then one warmed a little and served with hot custard (also delicious). The CCB (Caked Crusader’s Brother) commented that the sponge was so light it had the taste of a steamed sponge pudding.

One tip if you make this; line both the inside and outside of the tin with non-stick foil. When the cake cooks the caramel becomes rather runny and will leak out over your oven given the opportunity. I say this from bitter experience – I only lined the outside of the tin – and spent some frantic time sponging thick caramel off the oven floor and shelves. It’s worth it though – look at the sticky pear:

Another tip would be to use more fruit than I did. I used 240g of pears (drained weight) and would double this next time.

Use any fruit you wish, I’m sure it would work. Ok, maybe not olives or tomatoes but I’m sure you understand what I’m saying. I think peaches, cherries, plums (boo to Tesco), apples, pineapple, bananas - I could go on – would all work well

Ingredients
For the caramel:
50g unsalted butter, at room temperature
110g soft brown sugar

For the cake:
480g drained fruit of your choice – I used Cape pears
125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
275g caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
110g self raising flour
110g plain flour
180ml milk
120g ground almonds

To serve:
Thick cream or custard

Method

- Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.

- Wrap a 20cm loose bottomed square tin with non-stick foil – inside and out. Take your time to ensure that there are no gaps through which the molten caramel can seep.

- Start by making the caramel: place the butter and sugar in a saucepan and stir over a low heat until the sugar has melted and you have a smooth rich caramel.

- Pour into the base of the cake tin.

- Arrange your fruit in the caramel taking care not to burn your fingers. Put to one side.

- Now make the cake: Beat together the butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.

- Beat in the eggs one at a time.

- Stir in both the flours and the milk in two batches i.e. half the flour, half the milk, half the flour, half the milk.

- Stir in the ground almonds.

- Spoon the batter over the fruit taking care not to disturb it.

- Level the mixture in the tin and bake for approximately 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

- Leave to cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then turn the cake out (invert it i.e. so it cools how you will serve it with the fruit on top). It is very important to do this while the cake is still hot otherwise the caramel will set making it difficult to get out of the tin.

- Serve either warm with custard or at room temperature with thick cream.

- Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have made.

- Eat.

Chocolate and pear cake (gluten free)

I often start my posts with why I’ve picked to make a recipe or who it’s for. Well this one’s for me! ME! Pear and chocolate is possibly my favourite combination.


This squidgy cake is perhaps closer to a tort. It also reminds me of the various “fallen chocolate cakes” I’ve seen where, due to the absence of flour, the cake collapses slightly as it cools creating a dense, rich chocolate delight. I was a little sad that my pears were completely smothered by the chocolate batter but it’s hard to complain about a cake rising more than anticipated!

Perfect as a tea time treat or a dessert, the recipe suggested serving with crème fraiche. I have to confess that I view crème fraiche as a tool of the devil so went with thick Channel Islands spooning cream instead. The contrast between the colours and textures of the pear and chocolate is very striking:



The only tweak I made to the recipe was using half dark, half milk chocolate instead of the recommended dark. This is purely down to personal taste; I sometimes find that dark chocolate can be too harsh by itself and some milk chocolate calms it down.

One thing I would say – and I sincerely hope it won’t put you off making this cake – is that while the recipe is very easy, you do need several bowls to hold ingredients in. I needed three: one to melt the chocolate and butter, one to hold the egg yolk and sugar, and the third to whip the egg whites in. Nothing complex, it just requires a bit of prep and organisation.

The cake is so moist:



While this may not sound the healthiest of cakes, it’s got a lot of things going for it. Firstly it contains pears which are fruit and we all know we need to eat lots of fruit. Secondly it includes dark chocolate which contains anti-oxidants (I have no idea what these do but it sounds vital to wellbeing). Thirdly I served it with cream which contains calcium ensuring healthy teeth and bones. Fourthly, it tastes delicious so will make you happy. Ok, I admit I’m running out of ideas....


Ingredients:
85g unsalted butter
85g dark chocolate (I used half dark chocolate, half milk chocolate)
1 tablespoon brandy (optional)
3 eggs, separated
85g golden caster sugar
85g ground hazelnuts
4 ripe small pears, peeled, halved and cored (you will probably only be able to fit 7 halves on the cake)

How to make:

- Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.
- Line a 25cm springform tin with baking paper.
- Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, then remove from the heat and stir in the brandy. Put to one side.
- Whisk the egg yolks and sugar until pale, thick and fluffy.
- Fold the egg yolk and sugar mix into the chocolate and then also fold in the ground hazelnuts.
- In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites until they are at the soft peak stage.
- Fold one spoonful of the egg white into the chocolate mix to slacken the mixture.
- Fold the remaining whites into the chocolate being careful not to overwork the mixture.
- Spoon or pour the batter into the prepared cake tin then lightly place the pear halves on top, cut side down.

- Bake for approximately 40 minutes or until the pears are soft and the cake is cooked i.e. a skewer comes out clean. Mine only took 36 minutes so you might want to start checking the cake after it’s been baking for 30 minutes.
- Leave to cool in the tin on a wire rack before carefully removing from the tin. The cake will sink a little on cooling.
- Dust with icing sugar and serve with thick cream or, if you really must, crème fraiche.
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Eat.

Pear and ginger cake

OK, I admit it’s not exactly seasonal but I had a hankering for ginger and this recipe has been in my thoughts for a while.

I don’t enjoy peeling fruit and vegetables; it started out because I am left handed and all the peelers seemed to be made for righties. But now I have a Y-shaped peeler I don’t have this excuse – peeling is just not fun. The big exception is pears. I could stand peeling pears till the cows come home – which is a long time as I don’t own any cows, nor do any live with me. There’s something about the texture of the pear skin and the pear itself that is lovely. I’m sure a psychologist could make something of that....



Pear and ginger is not a combination I had ever seen before and it works really well – the fragrant juicy pear sits nicely alongside the warm ginger. I think a lot of fruits would work well in this recipe and I’m tempted to try plums.


I served this cake with Chantilly cream alongside a cup of tea but it would be equally delicious warmed and served with ice cream for dessert.


Ingredients:
For the cake:
175g unsalted butter, at room temperature
175g caster sugar
175g self raising flour
4 teaspoons ground ginger
3 eggs

For the topping:
2-3 pears, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
25g unsalted butter
1 tablespoon soft brown sugar


How to make:

- Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.
- Line a 20cm round springform cake tin.
- Start by making the cake: cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the flour, ginger and eggs and beat until well combined and you have a smooth, thick batter.
- Spoon the mixture into the cake tin and put to one side.
- Peel, core and slice the pears. Don’t do this too far in advance as they will brown. If you want to prepare the pears in advance brush with a little lemon juice to stop browning.
- Arrange the pear slices on top of the cake batter and then sprinkle with brown sugar and dot with butter.
- Bake for 35-45 minutes or until a skewer comes out cleanly. Mine took a little longer at 55 minutes.
- Serve either warm with ice cream or at room temperature with cream.
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Eat.

Pear and almond cake with almond crunch topping

I adore pear in any cake or dessert – far more than I like eating pears as a piece of fruit. It’s the combination of the delicate flavour and the juicy texture. This cake contains a layer of pear which combines beautifully with the rich almond cake surrounding it.

The unusual part of this cake is the crunch topping. As it is baked in the oven I expected it to be a bit gungey but it isn’t at all – it’s not as hard as a brittle but the nut content gives it a pleasing crunch. It’s a halfway house between caramel and praline – and how could that ever disappoint?

Here's a close up of the seriously-delicious topping:

I think this cake looks beautiful and everyone’s instinct on seeing it is to try and pick a bit of the topping off!

My tip when making this is only peel and slice the pears when you are ready to lay them on the cake batter; this will stop any discolouration.

Serving suggestion (how pretty do the pieces of pear set into the cake look?):


Ingredients:
For the cake:
175g unsalted butter, softened
150g golden caster sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
220g self raising flour
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
140ml soured cream
50g ground almonds
2 firm pears (I used comice)

For the almond crunch topping:
50g unsalted butter
50g light muscovado sugar
2 tablespoons double cream
75g flaked almonds

To serve: Lightly whipped cream, I used Chantilly cream

How to make:

- Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.
- Grease a 20cm springform tin and line the base with greaseproof paper.
- Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla together until they are pale and fluffy. Don’t skimp on this stage – give the mixture a good beating.
- Beat in the eggs, one at a time and add a spoonful of the flour with the second egg to minimise curdling.
- In a separate bowl combine the flour, bicarbonate of soda, and nutmeg.
- Fold half of the flour into the creamed mixture.
- Fold in all the soured cream and almonds, then the rest of the flour.
- Peel, core and slice the pears – don’t do this too early or they will discolour.
- Spoon half the cake mix into the tin and arrange the pears on top.
- Cover with the remaining cake mix.
- Bake for 40 minutes.
- When there is only about 5 minutes left on the clock, start making the almond crunch topping. Melt the butter in a saucepan and stir in the sugar and cream.
- Stir in the flaked almonds and ensure that they all get covered in the sticky sauce.
- Remove the cake from the oven and pour the almond mixture over the top, be gentle as you spread it out as the cake is fragile at this point.
- I recommend standing the cake tin on a baking sheet when you return it to the oven in case some nuts and sauce dribble over the edge of the tin.
- Bake for a further 20-25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean (barring a bit of sauce from the top). Mine took 40 minutes + 25 minutes.
- Remove the cake from the oven and place on a cooling rack. You have a few minutes to scoop up any flaked almonds that have fallen from the cake and place them back on top – they will stick at this point because the sauce has not fully set. I also recommend just gently using a knife to ensure that no topping is stuck to the end of the tin; this will ensure that when you unclip the tin, you won’t rip any topping off.
- Allow to cool for 30 minutes in the tin before removing from the tin and leaving to cool fully.
- Serve with lightly whipped cream – I picked Chantilly cream.
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Eat.