What do you do with fruit that has been lying around a bit? They have lost their appeal but they are not degrading as yet. These fruit are excellent in a cake. Pears, apples, bananas, berries, pineapples etc.
In this cake, the drier the pear, the better. Pear and almond are a great partnership, especially with the addition of custard. The custard is made with custard powder and is a perfect accompaniment within the soft layers of cake. It adds a creamy depth to the cake.
This cake is a delight eaten as is with a hot cup of tea. It is superb when eaten with some whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Ingredients for cake
- 125 g butter
- 3/4 c caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 (225g) cups self-raising flour
- 1/2 (60g) almond meal
- 2 tablespoons custard powder
- 1/2 c (125ml) of milk
- 2 large pears, sliced thinly
- 3 tablespoons apricot jam warmed
Ingredients for custard
- 2 tablespoons custard powder
- 2 tablespoons caster sugar
- 1 c of milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 20g butter
Method to make custard
- Combine custard powder and caster sugar in a small saucepan.
- Gradually add the milk to the saucepan, over medium heat, stirring constantly.
- Stir until custard thickens. Take off the heat.
- Add butter and vanilla and mix.
- Cover the surface of the custard with some plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming.
- Leave to cool while making the cake.
Method to make cake
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.
- Grease and line the sides and bottom of a 22 cm loose-bottomed round cake pan.
- Slice pears thinly.
- Beat butter and sugar in a mixing bowl with an electric beater until light and creamy.
- Add the eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition.
- Add self-rising flour, almond meal, custard powder and milk to creamed mixture and mix till smooth.
- Add half the mixture to the baking pan and smooth over evenly.
- Add half the slices of pear.
- Add custard over the pears.
- Top with the remaining cake batter.
- Smooth surface of cake.
- Add the other half of the pears.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 60-70 minutes.
- Cake is done when well risen and golden in colour.
- Leave out to cool on a wire rack.
- Warm the apricot jam for a few seconds in the microwave.
- Using a pastry brush, brush the surface of the cake to add a gloss to the cake.
