5 Firm brown pears
POACHING LIQUID
6 c Water
3 c Sugar
2 Bay leaves
1 Cinnamon stick
A lemon; rind of
-FOR THE CAKE-
150 g Unsalted butter
180 g Castor sugar
3 Eggs
Grated zest of I lemon
350 g Plain flour
25 g Baking powder
170 g Plain yoghurt
120 g Macadamia nuts; finely
-chopped
THE GLAZE
Smooth apricot jam
Icing sugar
Poach the pears in the syrup ingredients for about 1/2 hour until not quite
soft. Allow the pears to cool in their liquid then slice 5mm thick pieces
from the pear on either side of the core. Set aside the nicer large pieces
to garnish the cake, then dice the remaining pear to have about I cup of
pear cubes for the cake batter.
The cake: Cream the butter, zest and sugar until light and pale, then add
the eggs individually, beating well after each addition.. Sieve the flour
and baking powder together. Fold the macadamia nuts through the butter
batter then add the pear and yoghurt, followed by the flour. Do not
overmix.
Pour the batter into a buttered and floured 26cm round cake tin and bake at
170 c for approximately I hour.
While the cake is baking, boil the poaching liquid for about 15 minutes, or
until the it is quite syrupy. When the cake is removed from the oven, brush
about 1/2 cup of the syrup over the cake. When cold, glaze the whole cake
with a fine layer of smooth apricot jam that has been heated to boiling.
Fan the reserved pear slices over the cake, drench with icing sugar then
carefully caramelise the top with a blow torch or place under the griller
for a few seconds, until the sugar caramelises.
Yields
1 servings