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Pear and Chocolate Cake

Pear and Chocolate Cake with No Churn Ice Cream and Spiced Syrup

No Churn Ice Cream
Ingredients
600mls of double cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 can of condensed milk
9 tbsp chocolate spread

Method
Add 600mls of double cream, one teaspoon of vanilla extract into a bowl and whisk to soft peaks
Fold in one can of condensed milk
Layer some of the mixture into a tin
Drizzle chocolate spread over the mixture and swirl through
Repeat layering process until all the mixture is used up and put in the freezer for 6 hours

Pear and Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
100g salted butter - extra for greasing
100g soft brown sugar
100g 70% dark chocolate
4 eggs separated
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g ground almonds
3 ripe pears

Method
Preheat the oven 160C
Grease and line a cake tin with parchment paper
Chop the chocolate and place in a glass bowl with the butter over a pan of hot water
Keep stirring until the chocolate and butter has fully melted
Chop the pears lengthways into thin slices and set to one side
Separate the eggs into 2 bowls
In one bowl, whisk the egg whites until they forms soft peaks
In the other bowl whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until creamy
Sieve the ground almonds into the egg yolks and sugar
Add a spoonful of the egg whites into the bowl of yolks and sugar and mix to slacken the batter
Slowly fold in the remainder of the egg whites
Be careful not to beat the mixture as you will knock out the air bubbles which helps make it rise
Fold in the chocolate to the rest of the batter
Pour the mixture into the lined tin
Place the peeled pear slices on top
Do not overload the surface with the pear - cover 2/3 (or less) of the surface or you could end up with a flat, soggy cake
Place the cake tin on the bottom shelf of the oven at 160 degrees for 40-45 min or until a skewer comes out clean
Leave to cool in the tin for 5-10 minutes before releasing
Serve with ice cream and spiced syrup

Spiced Syrup
Ingredients
100g brown sugar
100ml of water
2 cinnamon sticks
1 clove of star anise
Mandarin peel
1 tsp of vanilla extract

Method
Into a pan on low heat add 100g of brown sugar, 100ml of water, a cinnamon stick, star anise and some mandarin peel
Add one teaspoon of vanilla extract
Stir around until fully incorporated
Let the syrup thicken up until it coats the back of a spoon
Serve