Spiced Pear and Sticky Treacle Cake
By OcadoLife
Published on 16 September 2024
The brainchild of award-winning food stylist Keiron George, this Spiced Pear and Sticky Treacle Cake comes with a surprise: there’s a fruity treat hidden in the middle! Slice through the rich, sticky cake to reveal whole pears perfectly poached in spiced red wine. The fragrant poaching liquid is then magicked into a glossy syrup for drizzling – and if there’s any left over, you can reheat it and serve over ice cream, yoghurt, waffles or pancakes.
Time and servings
2 hrsTotal time
10Servings
25 minsPrep time
1 hr 35 minsCooking time
Ingredients
- 1 (75cl) bottle red wine
- 1 orange, peel pared into 4 strips
- 250g caster sugar
- 2 star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 vanilla pod, split
- 1 fresh bay leaf (or use dried)
- 9 conference pears, peeled but stalks left intact
- 250g plain flour
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 0.5 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 100g unsalted butter
- 125g soft dark brown sugar
- 180g black treacle
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 225 ml whole milk
- 50g stem ginger, chopped
Method
Step 1
Add the red wine, orange peel, caster sugar, star anise, cinnamon, vanilla and bay to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the pears, reduce the heat to medium and poach for 20 mins or until just soft – test with a knife tip. Remove from the heat; leave to cool in the poaching liquid.Step 2
Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4. Line a 900g loaf tin with baking paper. For the cake, sift the flour, ground ginger, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and a pinch of salt into a mixing bowl. Set aside.Step 3
In a small pan, heat the butter, brown sugar and treacle until melted, then remove from the heat and mix with the dry ingredients to make a smooth batter.Step 4
Stir in the beaten egg and milk until combined, then fold in the stem ginger. Transfer the mixture to the loaf tin.Step 5
Remove the cooled pears from their liquid; pat dry with kitchen towel. Slice a little off the bottoms if needed, so they stand upright, then arrange in the loaf tin at even intervals, pushing down into the batter. To hold the pears in place, insert a wooden skewer horizontally through the top of each pear, resting it on the edges of the tin.Step 6
Bake for 1 hr 15 mins or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven; leave to cool completely in the tin.Step 7
Meanwhile, pour the poaching liquid through a sieve into a jug, then pour it back into the pan. Simmer over a medium heat for about 10 mins, until reduced to a deep, shiny syrup, thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Leave to cool slightly.Step 8
Gently pull the cake out of the tin by its paper and carefully remove the skewers. Drizzle over the warm syrup just before serving.Step 9
Recipe Tip: Allow extra time for cooling.