“Pears are such a gift in late autumn and throughout winter,” says Julia Busuttil Nishimura. “They are wonderful poached and served with custard or cooked in caramel for a tarte tatin. Admittedly, they are often the fruit left to get a little too soft in our fruit bowl, so I do tend to bake with them more often than not. Here, they are poached in a light syrup spiked with star anise and vanilla. The tender pieces of pear, almost jewel-like, are folded through the hazelnut and olive oil cake batter while the syrup is poured onto the hot cake straight from the oven – a pure delight.”
Serves 8
Ingredients
3 eggs
150g caster sugar
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
100ml light-flavoured extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve
120g ground hazelnuts
125g self-raising flour
good pinch of sea salt
crème fraîche, to serve
Poached pears
100g caster sugar
1 star anise
1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped
juice of 1⁄2 lemon
2 firm pears, peeled, cored and cut into 2cm pieces
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan-forced. Grease and line a 23cm × 12cm loaf tin.
For the poached pears, place the caster sugar, star anise, vanilla
pod and seeds, 250ml (1 cup) of water and the lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over a medium heat, then add the pears and cook for 6–8 minutes or until just tender. Remove the pears with a slotted spoon and set aside. If the syrup lacks viscosity, continue to simmer the syrup until slightly thickened, remembering it will thicken upon cooling. Reserve the syrup for later.
Whisk together the eggs, caster sugar and lemon zest in a large bowl. Stream in the olive oil and whisk until just incorporated. Whisk in the ground hazelnuts, then finally whisk in the flour and salt until just combined. Fold in the pears and spoon the batter into the tin. Bake for 45–50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when tested. Use a toothpick to poke holes in the hot cake, then pour on the cooled syrup. Allow the cake to cool in the tin, then turn out and serve with the crème fraîche and a drizzle of olive oil.
Good Cooking Every Day (Pan Macmillan Australia, RRP $44.99) is available now at such great Victorian bookstores as Readings, Books for Cooks and Hill of Content.