I

wanted to create an Autumn cake that would fit with the seasons. Having been a bit of a stranger to baking recently, a gloriously empty leafy weekend back home seemed like a good time to reassure myself that The Great British Bake Off hadn’t detered me from the cake world! Pears seemed like a good choice here and I’m a cinnamon addict. After recently discovering the delights of ‘Lotus spread’ I felt it needed a place in one of my recipes so is used here in a crunchy coffee tainted buttercream. The chocolate leaves are a nice Autumnal touch here for a special occasion but feel free to leave these off if life is far too short in your eyes…

Makes 2 small cakes or 1 large one

Cake

• 740g pears
• 40g butter
• 3 tbsp light muscovado sugar
• ½ heaped tsp cinnamon
• 200g butter
• 200g sugar
• 200g self raising flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 3 large eggs, beaten lightly

1. Peel, core and halve the pears and diced.
2. Heat the 40g butter, sugar and cinnamon in a frying pan until melted.
3. Add the pears and cook until the pears and softened and the caramel thickens and coats the pears. Set aside to cool.
4. Preheat the oven to 170°C. and grease and line 2 small cake tins (15cm wide) or one large one (24cm spring form tin)
5. Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy.
6. Add the eggs bit by bit with a little flour if it curdles.
7. Fold in the flour and baking powder
8. Finally fold in the pears and their syrup and spoon into the tins.
9. bake for about 35-40 minutes until springy to touch and cooked in the middle. Leave to cool.

NOTE: Cake tin size: I used two small tins. This isn’t really a recipe that could make a tiered cake due to the pears which make it more of a dense cake. So either use 2 small tins for 2 cakes or one large one. I also had some extra mixture so made a few muffins (which will take about 20 minutes to bake) as gifts to take to some willing friends.

Topping

• 160g unsalted butter, softened
• 80g ‘Lotus biscuit spread’, crunchy
• 90g ish icing sugar
• 40-50g dark chocolate
• Handful mint leaves

1. Start with the chocolate leaves. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over some simmering water until melted.
2. Use a pastry brush and coat the back of the mint leaves very thickly. Done too thinly and they will snap when ready. Don’t worry about doing these really thickly. Lay over a rolling pin to dry and pop in the fridge.
3. Once set, remove from the fridge. I won’t lie, this bit is fiddly and I think I only ended up with 2 whole leaves. But, the effect is still good. Make sure your hands are really hot and carefully peel the mint leaf from the chocolate. Repeat and set these aside carefully.
4. For the buttercream, cream together the butter, spread and as much icing sugar to taste. This is a guide and your tastes will vary.
5. Spoon into a piping back and use to pipe your cakes
6. Decorate with the leaves and serve!