Poached Pear Cake

• 3 cups water
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 None vanilla bean, split
• 4 None small under-ripe pears, peeled
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp cocoa
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 11 tbsp butter, melted, cooled
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• None None vanilla ice-cream, to serve

1. To poach the pears, place water, 1 1/4 cups of sugar and vanilla in medium saucepan, Stir on medium heat until sugar dissolves.
2. Add pears, ensuring they're covered with syrup, adding extra water as required. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, covered, 25-30 minutes, until pears are just tender. Drain. Cool slightly and cut pears in half.
3. Preheat oven to 400u0b0F. Lightly grease an 8 cup baking dish.
4. To make the cake, sift flour, cocoa, baking powder and ginger into a large bowl. Stir in 1/4 cup of sugar. Make well in the center, then gradually stir in melted butter and eggs to form a smooth batter.
5. Pour batter into the prepared dish. Arrange pears in the batter. Bake 25-30 minutes, until just set. Serve warm with vanilla ice-cream.

water, sugar, vanilla bean, flour, cocoa, baking powder, ground ginger, butter, eggs, vanilla icecream

Taken from recipes-plus.com/api/v2.0/recipes/24174 (may not work)