PEAR AND LEMON CAKE

This cake is fresh and airy with little mouthfuls of juicy seasonal pears.

serves 6-8

50g butter, melted, plus extra for the tin

500g ripe pears, peeled, cored and roughly chopped

1 lemon, juice and zest

75g plain flour

1 heaped tsp baking powder

½ tsp ground ginger

75g caster sugar

2 eggs , beaten

icing sugar , for dusting

cream or creme fraiche for serving

Method

Heat oven to 180C/160C fan. Line a 20cm loose-bottomed cake tin with baking paper and brush with butter.

Put the prepared pears in a bowl with the lemon juice , to prevent them discolouring.

Sieve the flour, baking powder and ginger into a bowl, adding a pinch of salt and the caster sugar.

Whisk the eggs and melted butter together until thick (5 minutes) add to the flour mixture. Gently fold together. Finally, fold in the pears with their juices and the lemon zest. Pour the cake mixture into the tin.

Bake for about 50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Place on a wire rack and allow to cool slightly before removing from the tin, gently peeling away the parchment.

Dust with icing sugar, it is wonderful served warm or at room temperature with crème fraiche.