Pear and Ginger Cake with rum drizzle

Lightly spiced poached pears top a cake flavoured with stem and ground ginger. The cake is then finished off with a drizzle of rum flavoured icing. This pear and ginger cake is also delicious served warm as a dessert.

Each week the show is on air I like to bake along to The Great British Bake Off.  I made this Pear and Ginger Cake with a rum drizzle as the recipe inspired by Spice week.  On this episode each contestant was asked to make a ginger cake, and as soon as  I saw one of the contestants had pears on their work surface the idea for this cake sprung into my mind.  Not only are pears and ginger a great combination, pears are also currently in season.

I almost ditched the idea when I saw at least one other contestant was also going for the pear and ginger combination but in the end decided to stick with it since it is such a great combination. So that just left me with the dilemma on whether to go for a rich sticky ginger cake or a lighter cake. I’ve opted for the lighter version.

I love stem ginger and this cake gets its flavour from a mixture of both ground spice and stem ginger. There is no mistake its ginger cake but the ginger is not overpowering. The pears are poached in a lightly spiced sugar syrup which is also flavoured with some fresh ginger. Personally I almost always have fresh ginger in the fridge, but you could substitute it with 1/2 tsp ground ginger instead.

To finish the cake I added a drizzle of rum flavoured icing. Again, rum and ginger seem to go very well together but, if you prefer, use a little lemon juice instead.  Without the drizzle the cake is delicious served warm as a dessert with some cream or ice cream for a dessert.

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Pear and ginger cake

Flavoured with stem and ground ginger and topped with lightly spiced poached pears, this pear and ginger cake is completed with a rum flavoured icing drizzled over the top.

Prep Time20 mins

Cook Time1 hr 35 mins

Total Time1 hr 55 mins

Course: Baking

Cuisine: English

Keyword: cake

Skill Level: Easy

Servings: 12

Calories: 428kcal

Author: Jacqueline Bellefontaine

Ingredients

metric - US cups

for the spiced pears

• 3 firm pears
• 300 ml water
• 100 g golden caster sugar
• three slices stem ginger
• 4 cloves
• cinnamon stick

for the cake

• 250 g butter softened
• 225 g golden caster sugar
• 100 g black treacle
• 300 g self-raising flour
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 4 large eggs
• 100 g stem ginger

for the rum drizzle

• 50 g icing sugar
• 1 tbsp rum

Instructions

• First prepare the pears, peel the and cut in half then scoop out the core with a teaspoon.
• Place the water in a saucepan with the sugar, ginger, cloves and cinnamon, and heat gently stirring until the sugar dissolves.
• Place the pears in the syrup. Cover and poach gently for until just tender.
• Remove from the pan with a draining spoon and allow to cool completely.
• Preheat the oven to 170℃ (150℃ fan)/350°F/gas mark 3. Lightly grease and line the base of a 23cm (9in) springform or deep loose bottom cake tin.
• Beat the butter, sugar and treacle together until fluffy. Then beat in the eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.
• Add the stem ginger and gently fold in, then sift the flour, ginger and cinnamon into the bowl and fold in.
• Bake for about 1 – 1¼ hours or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cover the top loosely with foil if it begins to get too dark on top.
• Allow too cool in the tin for a few minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
• To make the rum drizzle, sift the icing sugar into a small mixing bowl, then stir in the rum to form a thin icing. 
• Drizzle from the spoon in a random pattern on top of the cake. Allow to set. Serve cut into slices.

Notes

Nutrition information is calculated using an online nutrition database - is approximate and is meant as a guideline only.

Nutrition

Calories: 428kcal | Carbohydrates: 60g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 99mg | Sodium: 174mg | Potassium: 230mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 34g | Vitamin A: 12.2% | Vitamin C: 2.3% | Calcium: 6.7% | Iron: 10.2%

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