WALNUT AND PEAR CAKE

Ever since I saw these pretty pear cakes pop up on Instagram, I wanted to make one too. I bought four pears. And then I made brownies. And cinnamon buns. And I could not possibly make another cake. A week went by, two pears were gone. But I still had the other two sitting there on the kitchen table, so rather late one night I decided to make the cake. Usually, I am a chocolate-and-nothing-but-chocolate kind of person, but recently I am craving more vibrant and fruity foods...
must be the winter blues. Because my mum has sent me a huge amount of walnuts, and because I thought walnuts and pears would go quite nicely together, a pear and walnut cake it was. It is so moist and rich and fruity and utterly delicious, and you should go make one right now.

The recipe is loosely based on this one here.

WALNUT AND PEAR CAKE

(1 cup = 250 ml)


1 ½ cups flour

1 ½ cups walnuts, ground in the food processor

1 teaspoon baking soda

some salt, nutmeg, cinnamon to taste

¾ cup peanut oil

3 eggs

1 cup (brown) sugar

2-3 pears, quartered

some butter and cocoa powder to prepare the pan

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Mix the wet ingredients separately from the dry ingredients, then combine. Butter and cocoa powder a pan (I used a very basic round one, 230). Pour mixture in and spread out. It is quite sticky and viscous. Stick the pear slices into the mixture, like sunrays pointing away from the centre (is there a better way to explain this?). Bake for about 45 minutes. Let cool in the pan for a half hour, then turn onto a plate. When cooled completely, sprinkle some powdered sugar on top.