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Greedy Pudding Pear Cake


(just look at that juicy slice of pear, what you can't see is the crunch of caramel you hit, before you bite into that luscious pear)

I was watching an episode of River Cottage on replay. I like to watch it this way, so if anything gruesome comes on, I can just fast forward. I do love Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's passion for food and love watching him cook, but some of it is just stomach churning.

Not so this dish. A delicious pear cake, ever so moist with slices of juicy, caramelised pears sunk into it's depths. I slammed on my pause button and grabbed a notebook (there is always one to hand anywhere in the house) and started to scribble down the recipe as he cooked. My mouth was watering as I continued to watch and scribble. Needless to say, I made the cake as soon as I could lay my hands on some ground almonds.

Gorgeous, just gorgeous! I just wish my evening photography was as good as the cake was!























Greedy Pudding Pear Cake

cake

300g butter
250g caster sugar
4 large eggs
150g self-raising flour
150g ground almonds
a pinch of cinnamon


pears

3 tender to firm pears
25g butter
1 tbsp caster sugar

Heat the oven to 180 c/ fan 160 c/ gas 4 (Hugh didn't specify the oven temperature, so I just went with the temperature I used for my Apple Cake). Line a 20cm cake tin. I like to use the inserts available from Lakeland, it saves time and effort. Don't you just hate lining cake tins?

Peel the pears and cut into 3 long slices. Melt the butter until bubbling and then add the sugar. move the pan about until the sugar has begun to melt and the cook the pears in this syrup for a few minutes until they are beginning to colour. Once they are tender, take of the heat and set aside.

Whisk the 300g of softened butter until pale and fluffy (one of Hugh's tips), then add the caster sugar. Still whisking, crack open 4 eggs and add one at a time. Sieve in the flour and ground almonds and fold together. Sprinkle over the cinnamon and stir into the mixture.

Smooth the cake mixture into your prepared cake tin, top with the pears, making a flower pattern. Spoon any left over caramel from the pan over the pears and the bake in the middle of a pre-heated oven for 45 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean.

Hugh's cake came out a lot browner than mine, but I think that might have been to do with the oven temperature. When I make this again, I will be doing it just the same way. The cake was lovely and golden and baked to perfection. I may add a little more cinnamon next time, as it wasn't very noticeable in the first cake. My friend Andrew, hinted that he would like some ginger in it next time and I think that would work well too.

42 comments

  1. MMMMM this looks SO good! I really enjoy pears in baked goods, even though I'm not fussy on them raw. And those photos look great, evening or not!

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  2. That does look unbelievably moist!

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  3. You know, I've never been a real big fan of pears...I always prefer apples. That being said, this looks amazing. May have to get over my bias to try this.....

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  4. Ooh yum! And possibly best name of a cake ever.

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  5. Thanks Ricki, I love pears any way, as long as thery are ripe. I hate biting into a hard pear. It's like eating raw turnip.

    It was lovely and moist Pam :)

    Hi Laura, You may like them better like this, all soft and carmelised in an almond cake.

    Hi Sarah, I am afraid I cannot take credit for the name. I heard Hugh describing it like this in the programme. It makes it even more appealing though, doesn't it?

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  6. I have trouble taking photos after the natural light is gone. Taping the show is a greay way to be able to jot down the recipe:D

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  7. I think you've captured all the pear-y richness of that cake with your photos. It looks delicious!

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  8. Hi Val, I have a satellite tv service that allows me to watch programmes I have missed over the week. It is very handy, especially for pausing while you note things down.

    It's a good one Andrea, I am sure you could veganise it into something pretty special.

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  9. Oh my goodness, your photos are gorgeous!! Look how moist and tempting and beautiful! :-) I love your story of jotting down the recipe right in the moment, too - such a wonderful tale of inspiration! I'm quite eager to fix this beautiful recipe! Now if only I could get Zach to let me fast forward through the gruesome bits of TV shows and movies... :-)

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  10. Hi Astra, a fast forward button would be so useful many timed in life. So very, very useful. Especially for those embarrasing moments :)

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  11. Yum - I love pears in cakes like this.
    Did you see HFW making this cake was mentioned on TV Burp this week?

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  12. I feel the same way about my evening photography. I have been using pears a lot lately. I will now be using them again. Thanks for the recipe.

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  13. Love this! Loads of people have been inspired by Hugh's pear cake from last week - me too :-)

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  14. It looks so light and fluffy - good old Hugh!

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  15. I saw this episode and thought the cake looked amazing. I plan on making a wheat free version.

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  16. Hi CC, I never watch TV burp.

    Your birthday cake was drooled over at my work today. We loved it :)

    The winter sucks doesn't it TB :)

    Hi Alex, It's great isn't it? He can be a genius at times.

    Hi Lysy, if only I could convert him to vegetarianism :)

    Should be good Nic :)

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  17. juicy, juicy pear. smooth, luscious caramel. soft, tender cake. yeah, this one's a winner!

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  18. I love the name, for Greedy I would be if I had this ;-) Luscious bites one after the other and it would be all gone!

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  19. It's definitely a winner Grace :)

    You got it David :)

    Hi Soma, I was a good girl and only had one slice and shared the rest out :)

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  20. oh goodness gracious me, that looks stunning and droolworthy!! i wish i could have a piece right now, but i guess that sadly has to wait. until the weekend perhaps. yum yum:)

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  21. Oooh caramel crunch, sweet pears! Looks like a really nice breakfast treat.

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  22. Great way to use pears! thanks for sharing :)

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  23. Hi! I came accross your blog while searching for other vegetarian blogs. I love pears and this cake looks very good! Bye Sabrina

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  24. Oh my. This cake looks fabulous! Aren't pears just the perfect fruit?

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  25. Yum, yum! This cake looks fantastic!

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  26. I seem to have missed this episode but the cake looks really delicious, will have to add to my list to make as love anything with pears in! x

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  27. looks yummy.....I love pears baked in anything... :)

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  28. This is such a nice fall or winter dessert.

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  29. What a beautiful cake! I want to make this.

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  30. Mmm this cake looks so good! Especially that last photo yummm. You're welcome about the award. =) You deserve it!

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  31. love the name of the cake - sounds so tempting

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  32. looks amazing :) I saw this on river cottage and said i have to make it too! Going to tonight i think :)

    By the way, with regards to the darker colour on Hugh's cake, it might have been because Hugh used wholemeal self-raising flour as opposed to the normal white.

    Thanks for the post, looks great :D

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  33. Hi there, gorgeous looking cake thanks for the heads up! Am just in the process of making it however and suddenly thought the measurements didn't look right. Checked on the channel 4 website and, sure enough, measurements are way off on butter, flour and eggs. Thought i should give you a heads up! here's the original recipe http://www.channel4.com/food/recipes/chefs/hugh-fearnley-whittingstall/pear-and-almond-pudding-cake-recipe_p_1.html
    cheers x

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  34. Actually, if you have a look at the website again you will see that the measurements are exactly half of my measurements. I took note of the ingredients from the programme. He must have made a bigger cake the first time around. It works out perfectly. I hope you enjoy it :)

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  35. I quote Hugh's website. "This recipe version is half the size of Hugh's show version, as River Cottage feel this is more suitable for domestic baking".

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  36. I just made this - it is completely delicious - thank you!

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  37. In the original recipe Hugh uses WHOLEMEAL self-raising flour. I made this cake following his recipe, probably why it came out browner and yours didn't.

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    1. Ahhhhh, well that explains it. At least you were paying attention :)

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  38. Hi make this lovely greedy pudding pear cake it was a hit and went down well 👍😁

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    1. I am so glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for taking the time to let me know.

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  39. This cake was so good we made it again a week later, thank you!

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