Today is officially ‘Stir up Sunday’, the day festive culinary preparation traditionally begins in the kitchen with the making of the Christmas cake, pudding, mincemeat – or all three! To me, it signals the start of seasonal baking: sugar, spice, and comfort. This pear and marzipan cake is the perfect late autumn/ first festive bake as it combines orchard fruit with rich almonds, the marzipan turning gooey and caramelised in the oven. To make the cake, you will need:
120g butter
60g caster sugar
60g soft brown sugar
50g ground almonds
1 tsp almond extract
2 tbsp milk
70g self-raising flour
2 eggs
80g marzipan
80g pear, chopped
For the topping
30g marzipan, grated
One pear, thinly sliced
One tbsp flaked almonds.
Preheat the oven to Fan 160C. Cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the almond extract, milk and the eggs, one at a time, alternating with the flour. Fold in the ground almonds, fruit and marzipan.
Pour the mixture into a greased, lined 20cm tin. Top the cake with the thinly sliced pear, grated marzipan and flaked almonds. Bake for 45 – 50 minutes until cooked through. Allow to cool a little, before removing from the tin to cool completely on a wire rack. Delicious with a cuppa for afternoon tea, or warmed with custard.
