Foodandthefabulous

Pear Cake with Salted Caramel Sauce and Caramel Shards

I think it’s time I admit it – I have a sweet tooth. While I love both sweet and savoury foods, I love the meal to end on a sweet note, even if it’s a small tub of yoghurt, a plate of sliced fruit or a few squares of chocolate.

Growing up, we never had a pudding or cake to end every meal. Dessert was made on special occasions, when we had guests or on some weekends. My brother and I helped to mix and stir the batter, and sometimes when my mother turned around, we snuck chocolate chips and sprinkles into her carefully measured out bowl of ingredients. I don’t remember her getting angry but it could explain why the weekend muffins or scones were made on Friday while we were still at school.

Despite enjoying desserts, I am not an avid baker, mostly because I have stuck to a few tried and trusted recipes – for convenience, perhaps, and a little fear of wasting time and a mountain of expensive ingredients as well as having so many good options available at bakeries and stores.

Featured by Woolworths, here

But, really, nothing can compare to the smell of a cake baking, the kitchen filling with vanilla, cinnamon and in this case the fragrance of beautiful Ercolini pears.

This cake is based on an old Victoria sponge recipe, but I made a rather large one with no layers, baked in a bundt or ring cake pan. I used fragrant, tiny Ercolini pears (in season here in the northern hemisphere).

I adorned the cake with a salted caramel sauce I made and while on the theme:salted caramel shards. Looks fancy but is so easy to make and takes just a cup of white sugar and a teaspoon of sea salt.

This pear sponge is a celebratory cake -with it we toasted the end of two and a half months of being away from home, the incredible opportunity we’ve had to explore so much of Europe in one go (not to mention the bounty  of new foods we’ve eaten), the new friends we’ve made and the knowledge that we will be reunited with precious old friends and family soon.

I encourage you to take some time, gather the kids (but keep the sprinkles and chocolate chips out of their reach) and make this cake to celebrate something in your own life.

Cooks Notes:

• Victoria sponge uses the formula of equal weight (not volume) of eggs, sugar, butter and flour. Use the eggs as the starting point. If the eggs are large, they should weigh around 63 grams each. That makes them a total of 252 grams. A block of butter is conveniently 250 g. Now weigh the sugar and flour to equal 252 grams. Use a digital scale for best results – this is essential.
•  You may make two large standard cake layers and serve individually or  fill with fresh cream.
• Using fresh pears can be tricky, you need to use very ripe ones or give them a quick steam if they aren’t very ripe. I’d recommend you use tinned pears if pears aren’t in season where you live.
• For the caramel sauce and shards, use a heavy based pan or pot as thin based pots cook  warp and unevenly and may result in burning. Once burnt you can do nothing to save the sauce but have to start over
• Use white granulated sugar for the sauce and shards – brown contains unrefined particles that will not yield a smooth result. Also melting brown sugar will not have the visible colour change process for you to easily identify when the amber stage is achieved and may burn as a result.
• While you are allowed to stir the sugar only until it melts and not after, try to avoid this and swirl the pot instead.
• For the sauce, use a deep pot as the mixture will bubble and froth up when you add the butter and the cream
• If you have lumps in the sauce, never fear- you can strain the sauce. But cleaning the sieve may prove a nightmare once the sugar solidifies.
• Exercise caution – use a long sleeved shirt and you should not leave the pot unattended until the caramel is ready.

Recipe at Food and the Fabulous