Pear and Almond Cake - Easy and Delicious

This delicious Pear and Almond Cake is the perfect all day treat. It's light, sweet but not too sweet and it's not at all dry. It's easy to make and can be made the day before you need it. The pears keep the cake moist and the almonds add texture.

This cake is basically a simple sponge with 3 whole pears added and you wont need any special tools to make it. The pears will take less than 5 minutes to peel, core and slice. The batter will take less than 10 minutes and you bake it for 35. You can feed 9-12 people depending on how generous you want to be with the slices. This cake will keep for 2 days (but trust me, it won't last that long - this cake is incredibly moreish!)

You will need:

• 50g (1/3cup) Self Raising Flour or Plain Flour aka All purpose Flour
• 2 eggs
• 125g (1/2cup) White Sugar
• 100g (1cup) Ground Almonds
• 125g (1/2cup) Butter/Butter Spread/Marg
• 1-2 teaspoon Vanilla Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Bean Paste/Vanilla Extract
• *1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder (if using /All Purpose Flour)
• 1-2 teaspoons Milk
• 100g (1.5cup) Flaked Almonds - half for batter, half to sprinkle on the cake
• 3 Ripe Pears (peeled, cored, sliced)

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to (fan) 350F/180C or GM4
2. Mix butter and sugar until soft and light in a large bowl
3. Add vanilla paste (if using) and mix
4. Add eggs one at a time and mix after each addition
5. Add flour (and baking powder if needed) and stir until just mixed
6. Add ground almonds and mix
7. Add flaked almonds and mix
8. Add milk and mix
9. Pour batter into an 8 inch lined tin
10. Place pears on top, do not push the pears down far as the batter will rise around them
11. Bake in the middle of a preheated oven for 25 minutes- do not open the oven before the 25 minutes unless the cake seems to be browning too quickly
12. Remove the cake from the oven and sprinkle sliced almonds and vanilla sugar on top before returning to the oven for 10 minutes
13. Remove from the oven - cool in the tin for 15 minutes before taking the cake from the tin and cooling further on a cooling rack (tip -run a knife around the edge of the tin to loosen)
14. Dust with icing sugar if desired
15. Serve on it's own or with cream