Pear, Walnut and Ginger Cake

The good thing about moving and unpacking is that you get to discover things you never knew you had. Unpacking one of the numerous boxes we brought along turned up a treasure chest of unread recipes books.

Once I'd decided that I'd unpacked enough boxes for the day (a grand total of about two!), I duly took a break and had a flip through some of the books. One of the recipes that caught my eye was the one for a 'Pear and Ginger Cake', in an Italian cookbook. I had some pears, I had powdered ginger, I like cake, and I have a new oven that needs testing! Isn't it great when things work out great and you get to have cake at the end of it all?

Pear, Walnut, and Ginger Cake (adapted from What's Cooking: Italian by Penny Stephens)

Ingredients

200gm butter, softened

170gm caster sugar

200gm self-raising flour

3tsp ground ginger

3 eggs, beaten

2 pears, cored and thinly sliced

1 tbsp brown sugar

50gm walnuts, roughly chopped (optional)

Directions

- Lightly grease and line a cake pan (the book says to use an 8-inch pan but I used a 7-inch one as it was the only one I had). 

- Using a whisk, combine 150gm of butter with the caster sugar, flour, ginger and eggs, then mix to a smooth consistency. Stir in walnuts, if using.

- Spoon the mixture into the pan and level the surface.

- Arrange pear slices over the mixture, sprinkle with brown sugar and dot with the rest of the butter.

- Bake in a preheated oven at 175 degrees C for about 40-50 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

- Serve with ice cream or cream.