Sticky Ginger and Pear Cake

This Ginger and Pear Cake brings together two flavours that are the best of friends. The spicy heat of ginger is the perfect counterpoint to the luscious sweetness of the pear. The syrup from the jar of stem ginger adds an additional hit of sugar which brings the flavours together and ensures that the cake is moist.

Another aspect of this cake which I really like is that it includes a secret pear! A whole fresh pear is added to the cake mix just before baking and ends up embedded in the cake. You don’t know about it until you cut into the cake. There is something really appealing to me, both in terms of flavour and texture, and also as it is a nice surprise, in including the pear in this way.

I was won over to stem ginger relatively recently. I have childhood memories of my parents being given jars of it at Christmas which sat in the cupboard until well past their use by date as no one really knew what to do with it! Years later, I saw a jar in the supermarket and made an impulse buy and decided to try and use it in a cake. The result was fantastic, with the stem ginger giving a complex gingery flavour unlike that provided by ground ginger. A few bakes later, I decided to add pear into the mix and this recipe is the result.

For me, one of the best aspects of baking is experimenting with different flavour combinations. If you like this Ginger and Pear Cake, you might also like Rum and Banana Bread and Lime Drizzle Cake with Coconut.

Ginger and Pear Cake

• Author: Tastebotanical
• Prep Time: 15
• Cook Time: 45
• Total Time: 1 hour
• Yield: 1 loaf cake 1x
• Category: Cake
• Method: Baking
• Cuisine: British

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Description

This sticky Ginger and Pear Cake brings together two flavours that are best friends!  Using stem ginger brings a complexity of flavour and luscious moistness to this easy cake recipe.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

For cake:  

• 125 g butter
• 175 g caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 175 g self-raising flour
• 3 pieces of stem ginger
• 4 tablespoons syrup from a jar of stem ginger
• 1 large, ripe pear

For topping:

• 1 piece of stem ginger
• 1 tablespoon of syrup from a jar of stem ginger

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Instructions

1. Set your oven to 180 degrees centigrade or Gas Mark 4.
2. Grease a 450 g loaf tin and line the bottom with baking parchment.
3. Cream the butter with the sugar in a large bowl.  (I usually soften the butter for about 30 seconds in the microwave first as it makes it much easier!)
4. Gradually add the eggs to the butter and sugar mixture.  If it looks as if it is going to curdle, add some of the self-raising flour.
5. Once the eggs have been incorporated add the rest of the self-raising flour.
6. Finely chop your pieces of stem ginger and add them to the cake mixture along with the syrup from the jar of stem ginger.
7. Spoon the cake mixture into your prepared loaf tin.
8. Take the skin off your pear.  I find the easiest way to do this is with a vegetable peeler.   Cut the pear in half lengthwise and, using a small knife, remove the core and any pips.   Place the two halves of the pear on top of the cake mixture.
9. Put the tin in the oven and bake the cake for 45 minutes.
10. Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the tin. 
11. When the cake is cool, remove it from the tin.   
12. To decorate the cake, using a pastry brush, paint the top  with the ginger syrup.  Cut up the piece of stem ginger and scatter the pieces over the top of the cake.

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Keywords: cake, ginger, pear

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