Pear & Almond Cake Recipe and other culinary delights

PEAR AND ALMOND CAKE

75 g (3 oz or 1/3 cup) butter, softened
75 g (3 oz or 1/2 cup) caster sugar
3 eggs, beaten
100 g (4 oz or 1 cup) S-R flour
125 g (5 oz or 1 1/4 cups) ground almonds
1 tsp almond essence
450g (1 lb) pears, peeled, cored and halved

Beat the butter and sugar together.  Gradually add the eggs along with the flour and almonds.  Beat in the almond essence.  Pour the mixture into a greased 23cm (9 in)cake tin and arrange the pear haves over the surface.  Bake in the oven at gas mark 4, 180 deg. C or 350 deg. F for 40 mins.

Taken from The Autumn Fruits Cookbook by Charlotte Popescu.


CHOCOLATE AND BLACKBERRY BROWNIES

3 eggs, beaten
6 oz or 175 g or 3/4 cup caster sugar
6 oz or 175 g or 3/4 cup plain semi-sweet chocolate (I use Lidl Raspberry 70% Equador chocolate)
5  oz or 150 g or 1/2 cup & 2 tablespoons baking margarine
4 oz or 100 g or 1 cup plain flour
8 oz or 225 g or 1 1/2 cups ripe blackberries, hulled (I use mine straight from the freezer)
4 oz or 100 g or 2/3 cup chocolate chips

Grease a 16" (40 cm)square tin (I line mine too). TBH, a 14" tin would do. Beat the eggs with the sugar in a bowl and melt the chocolate and margarine in a bowl over pan of hot water or in microwave.

Mix the egg and chocolate mixtures together thoroughly.  Add the flour and mix in.  Mix in the blackberries and chocolate chips (I don't normally use chocolate chips too).  Put the mixture into the prepared tin. 

Bake in oven at 180 deg. C or 350 deg. F or Gas Mark 4 for 25 - 30 mins.  Cool on a wire rack and cut into squares.  Remove from tin when cold.  Makes 16. (Then HIDE them!!)

No photo as I sent these back up to Yorkshire with my daughter.  Oh my goodness, but they are GOOD.

With apologies to your waistlines . . .


Today I decanted my Hay Car Park Small Plum Gin into its original bottle.  It smells divine.  I also got some Vodka last week and using the huge Morello cherries I'd got a 7 lb box of back in the summer, I made Cherry Vodka, which is still being stirred daily.  Both will be ready in time for Christmas.  You can of course use Brandy with the cherries.

Over the weekend the torrential rain made me disinclined to venture out (apart from a brief dash to pick up yet more windfall apples and pears).  Then I peeled, cored and chopped the apples, mixed them with spices and dried mixed fruit and voila, one earthenware jar of Mincemeat.  Next I shall mop up a few of the windfall pears and make Apple, Pear and Ginger Mincemeat.  At this rate I will have to go back to wine making again as I have such a surplus of fruit . . .  

Ah yes, that torrential rain - something like a month's worth in about 36 hours.  The river rose and rose (of course) and took that dead sheep walkies (or should I say, floaties).  However, it had dropped a good four of five feet overnight but the poor souls in Crickhowell didn't fare so well - the Bridge End Pub flooded and lost thousands of pounds worth of stock in the cellar.

Time to go and relax.  Happy baking from the Cake Whisperer!