Poached Pear + Chocolate Cake

Autumn is an inspiring season for experiments, with an abundance of hearty produce. The weather leaves us craving more and more earthy and comforting food. Chocolate cake is obviously one for all seasons, and what better way to up its game than by giving it a spice lift + pairing it with fruit poached in a spiced brandy orange sauce that is also later used as a glaze for the top. Cloves and ginger add just the right hint of heat, with the orange brandy glaze proving to be the perfect topping. Every bite feels like the story of an evening spent with your friend in a little cafe sipping a hot cuppa, laughing endlessly over random conversations and watching the rain outside.

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Ingredients

For the poached pears

  • 2 pears, peeled + halved and cored

  • Juice of 2 oranges

  • 1/4 cup brandy

  • Peel from 1 orange, without the white pith

  • 5-6 cloves

  • 2 tbsp honey

  • 1 tbsp soft light brown sugar

  • 1 inch knob ginger, crushed

  • Pinch of salt

For the chocolate cake

  • 100g white spelt flour

  • 50g buckwheat flour

  • 50g ground almonds

  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder

  • 1 tsp baking soda

  • 1/2 tsp baking powder

  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves

  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger

  • Pinch of salt

  • 175g butter

  • 100g soft light brown sugar

  • 1/3 cup honey

  • 4 medium eggs, separated

  • 90ml milk

  • 1 tsp vanilla essence

Method of Preparation

  1. Add all the ingredients for the poached pears in a wide saucepan. Cook on medium heat for 25 minutes, till the sauce mildly thickens and the pears have cook through but not lost their shape.

  2. Butter a 20cm round cake tin. Cut a 20cm round piece of parchment paper for the base of the cake tin. Place it over the buttered base, and apply some butter over the paper as well.

  3. Add 2 tbsp of the poaching sauce to the base of the prepared cake tin. Place the poached pears over this, and set aside. Keep the remaining poaching sauce for the final glaze.

  4. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.

  5. Separate the eggs, adding the whites to a medium mixing bowl and the yolks to a small bowl. Whisk the egg whites to form stiff peaks, and set aside.

  6. Sift together the white spelt flour + buckwheat flour + ground almonds + cocoa powder + baking soda + baking powder + ground cloves + ground ginger + salt, and set aside.

  7. Whisk the butter + sugar + honey together, till it becomes creamy. Add the egg yolks + vanilla essence and whisk again till well combined. Fold in the flour mixture. Then add the milk, and mix again. Gently fold in the egg whites, being careful not to over mix. Transfer the batter to the prepared cake tin with the pears. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven, and cover with kitchen foil. Return to the oven for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven, remove the kitchen foil, and return to the oven for another 5 minutes. Check if a toothpick comes out clean, or else allow to bake for another 5 minutes. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool in the tin for 15 minutes. Flip onto a wire rack and gently remove the base parchment paper. Add the remaining poaching sauce on top as a glaze. Allow to cool completely, before serving.

  8. Enjoy alongside a steaming hot cup of tea or coffee!