From the River Cottage..... going to make this soon as I get the High
Apple Pie out of the way :-)



Ingredients
• 150g unsalted butter, softened
• 125g caster sugar
• 2 medium eggs
• 75g wholemeal self raising flour
• 75g ground almonds
• A good pinch of cinnamon

For the caramelised pears:

• 3 pears (reasonably firm, but not rock hard)
• 25g unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 170°C/gas 3. Grease a 20cm-diameter springform cake
tin and line the base with baking parchment.

2. Peel, core and quarter the pears.

3. Melt the 25g butter in a frying pan big enough to take all the pear
pieces, over a medium high heat. When it’s bubbling, add the sugar and
stir gently until it has dissolved into the butter. Add the pears and
cook gently, turning once or twice, until they have softened and are
starting to colour – 5-10 minutes. Set aside to cool.

4. In a mixing bowl, beat the softened butter with the caster sugar
until pale and fluffy. Beat in one egg at a time, adding a spoonful of
the flour with each to stop the mix curdling.

5. Combine the remaining flour, the ground almonds and the cinnamon, and
fold into the mixture. Scrape into the prepared tin. Arrange the pears
on top and pour on any buttery juices left in the pan.

6. Bake for about 40-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the
centre of the cake comes out clean.

7. Stand the cake in its tin on a wire rack to cool for a few minutes,
then release the tin.