Pear and Honey Cake.

I love fruits, but quite often I don't eat enough, so whenever I am baking something sweet, I often go for recipes that do well with fruits whether fresh or dried. Some fruits are best served fresh along with the baked sweets, but others really shine when baked. Fruits such as apples and pears are of this latter category.
This recipe incorporate pears which are excellent when baked. In fact, I think they taste even better when cooked properly and with respect.

This simple recipe features pears as the star ingredient spiced up with cinnamon and some citrus zest. It is quite simple, easily prepared in under 30 minutes, and is perfect served with tea or coffee.

For a 15 cm pan you need:

• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 80 g sugar
• 30 g honey
• 120 g flour, all purpose
• 100 g softened butter plus extra 10 g for the pan
• 3/4 tsp of baking powder
• dash of salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• zest of half a lemon and half an orange
• 2 tbsp of orange juice (or lemon)

For the pan bottom you need:

• 2 pears 
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp of chopped almonds
• a sprinkle of cinnamon and the extra butter

Start by generously buttering the bottom of the pan, and the sides too. Sprinkle the sugar, cinnamon, and the almonds and set aside.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.

Add the cinnamon to the honey and heat a bit until it becomes rather runny.

Cream the butter with the sugar and the honey, using a whisk or a wooden spoon, (but save a tbsp of the honey to drizzle on the pears later). Add the eggs and mix well. Add the lemon and orange zest then fold in the flour. Finally add the orange juice and mix until combined.

Before adding the batter to the pan, slice the pears and arrange the pieces. Drizzle the remaining honey over the pear and pour in the batter.

Bake the cake for about 35 to 40 min in a preheated oven (180C). Let the cake cool about 5 minutes in the pan before removing it.

The cake is great with coffee, but you can also serve it with whipped cream, or Greek yogurt and honey. Rich and moist, it is perfect for breakfast, picnic or for a lazy and relaxed coffee break!