Cook The Book: Pear And Ginger Cake

• 6 tablespoons slightly salted butter
• 5 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons syrup from a jar of preserved ginger
• 3 or 4 large firm pears
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon softened butter
• 5 tablespoons sugar
• 3/4 cup self-rising flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 tablespoons ground almonds
• 2 large eggs
• 3-4 tablespoons syrup, once more, from the preserved ginger jar
• 4 knobs preserved ginger, coarsely chopped
• Heavy cream
• Sugar
• Ginger wine

1. Take a nonstick cake pan (9-10 in x 1 3/4 in), set it over low heat, and put in the butter. Once it starts to melt, move it around the pan, brushing some of it up the sides. Add sugar and the ginger syrup and heat until amalgamated, toffeelike and bubbling slightly. Remove from the heat. Peel, core, and thinly slice the pears, turning them in the lemon juice so they do not discolor. Arrange them in a sunflower effect on the toffee base. Preheat the oven to 375u0b0F.
2. Tip all the cake ingredients-except for the chopped ginger-into a food processor and whiz to smoothness. Tip into a bowl and now stir in the chopped ginger. Pour it over the pears and smooth over the surface. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes, then turn the heat down to 350u0b0F. Keep a watch on the surface, as it can start to brown quickly towards the end of the cooking time; if so, cover with a sheet of foil. The cake is cooked when the edges have started to shrink away from the sides of the pan. Test with a skewer, which should come out clean.
3. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the cake, place a large plate on top, and-watching out for hot juices-invert the cake. Serve warm, in thick wedges, with lightly sweetened heavy cream that has had a little ginger wine beaten into it.

butter, sugar, syrup, firm pears, lemon, butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, ground ginger, ground almonds, eggs, syrup, ginger, heavy cream, sugar, ginger wine

Taken from www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2008/11/pear-and-ginger-cake-recipe.html (may not work)