Pear Cake with Amaretto and Brandy Raisins

Name: Pear Cake with Amaretto and Brandy Raisins
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Argentine
Ingredients: 4 small pears; 2 tbsp amaretto liqueur, for the poaching syrup; 50 ml water; 1 tbsp cane sugar; 100 g butter, at room temperature; 100 g fine white sugar (or caster); 1 sachet of vanilla sugar; 100 g self-raising flour, sifted; 2 eggs; 1 jar of brandy raisins; Chantilly or whipped cream, to serve; Extra amaretto liqueur, to serve

⏱ 60 min in total🔪 10 min prep🍳 50 min cooking🍽 4 portiesMedium

Four small cakes, each with a whole pear standing upright inside it and its stalk poking out of the top. The effect when you serve them is worth the work, and the work is manageable.

The pears are poached beforehand in water with amaretto and cane sugar — that is where the flavour comes from; in the batter alone they would stay bland. The stalk stays on, because it is both the handle and the look.

For a more autumnal version, sift a pinch of cinnamon or ground ginger in with the flour. It is also excellent if you swap the raisins for pieces of 70 % dark chocolate.

🔎 What is self-raising flour? — where it comes from, what goes in it and how it differs.

Ingredients

Measurements

🍽 4 servings

4 small pears
2 tbsp amaretto liqueur, for the poaching syrup
50 ml water
1 tbsp cane sugar
100 g butter, at room temperature
100 g fine white sugar (or caster)
1 sachet of vanilla sugar
100 g self-raising flour, sifted
2 eggs
1 jar of brandy raisins
Chantilly or whipped cream, to serve
Extra amaretto liqueur, to serve

Method

1
Poaching the pears: peel the pears but leave the stalks on. In a small pan, put the water, the 2 tablespoons of amaretto and the cane sugar. Bring it to the boil, stand the pears upright in it and cook them covered over low heat for about 20 minutes, until tender.
2
The batter: in a bowl, beat the butter with the sugar and the vanilla until you have a light, fluffy cream.
3
Adding the dry ingredients: sift the self-raising flour over the bowl and mix it well into the butter and sugar.
4
Finishing the mixture: add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition, until you have a creamy batter.
5
Filling the moulds: put a thin layer of the batter into individual ovenproof dishes and set a pear on top of each, stalk upwards.
6
The raisins: distribute a tablespoon of brandy raisins around each pear and fill the dishes to the rim with the rest of the mixture.
7
Baking: transfer the dishes to a tray and bake in an oven preheated to 200 °C for about 30 minutes, until golden.
8
Serving: serve the cake warm with a good portion of chantilly cream and a small glass of the liqueur.