I was beginning to think that starting a blog had jinxed my baking, but today's cake was almost perfection! I chose this Pear, Hazelnut and Chocolate Cake from the Good Food website as my starting point, but made a few changes.
I bring back packs of ground hazelnuts from France, so I was spared that stage of the recipe. The basic cake mixture was made as in the recipe, but I added 100g of chopped plain chocolate and 25g chopped toasted hazelnuts as well as the two chopped pears. 50g of chocolate didn't seem enough to me, a confirmed chocoholic!
I didn't have enough pears to add the topping of pear slices, so decided to make a streusel topping instead, by rubbing 25g of butter into 25g SR flour and 25g demerara sugar, and adding 25g chopped toasted hazelnuts. This was sprinkled evenly over the top of the cake before baking.
The reviews of the cake on the Good Food site were very scathing about the accuracy of the cooking time suggested, but I found my cake cooked in 60 minutes - the upper end of the given time.
I bring back packs of ground hazelnuts from France, so I was spared that stage of the recipe. The basic cake mixture was made as in the recipe, but I added 100g of chopped plain chocolate and 25g chopped toasted hazelnuts as well as the two chopped pears. 50g of chocolate didn't seem enough to me, a confirmed chocoholic!
I didn't have enough pears to add the topping of pear slices, so decided to make a streusel topping instead, by rubbing 25g of butter into 25g SR flour and 25g demerara sugar, and adding 25g chopped toasted hazelnuts. This was sprinkled evenly over the top of the cake before baking.
The reviews of the cake on the Good Food site were very scathing about the accuracy of the cooking time suggested, but I found my cake cooked in 60 minutes - the upper end of the given time.
It was a gorgeous cake - moist but not to heavy, not too sweet and the right amount of chocolate. The pear was not overwhelming, but noticeable, and the extra chopped nuts added a good crunch. It would have been even better with a spoon of creme fraiche!The only downside, which wasn't really noticeable until the next day, is that it's quite fragile and crumbly. Not really a problem when using the cake as a dessert, but it means it's not robust enough for a lunchbox or other occasions involving moving it about, such as picnics.
1 comment:
Thanks for the recipe - I too saw it originally on the Good Food website, and was prepared to have to cook it for a while longer. It turned out, however, that it was fine after the 60 minutes. I found, however, that the cake did not become crumbly after a day, but stayed moist. I had only used 2 medium eggs and 4 pears, but it was one of the nicest cakes I had ever made, and I will certainly make it again!
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