200 grams soft light brown sugar, plus a bit extra
4 whole small pears, + 1 extra if caramelising
Steps
Grease and line the large loaf tin, around 2.5 pounds and preheat the oven to 180°C.
Peel and core the pears, either all the way or half if you like the stalks to show on the cake, and place in a bowl of cold water whilst you make the cake batter. Cream together the butter and sugar and one at a time, beat in the eggs, making sure you only add the next one once the previous is fully combined. Pour in the melted chocolate and the milk then stir through until the mix in a rich chocolate colour.
In a separate bowl, sieve all the dry ingredients and mix.
In thirds, add the dry ingredients to the wet one, mixing together between each third.
Pour 1/4 of the batter into the prepared cake tin, making sure there is an even layer of mix at the bottom. Now stand the pears in the batter, point towards the top, be careful that the pears don't fall over.
Evenly pour the rest of the batter into the tin to cover the pears and bake in a hot oven for 35-40 minutes, until the cake is cooked through and domed on top.
If it is colouring too fast on top, cover with tin foil.
Optional: This cake is delicious with caramelised pears, so if you
Fancy adding these, this is how: In a small pan add an even layer of sugar, don't touch or shake the pan, however tempting. Once it starts to bubble and caramelise in colour add the peeled pear slices and once all the sugar is melted toss the pan to coat the
Pears. Pour the mixture into greaseproof paper and wait for the cake to finish baking. Drizzle the cake with melted chocolate and extra caramel from the pears if you wish.
