Poached pear caramel drip cake recipe

1. Peel the pears, leaving the stalk intact. Place in a lidded pan big enough for them to stand snugly. Add water: they should just be covered. Remove the pears; add 300g caster sugar, the vanilla pod and seeds, cinnamon stick and grated ginger.
2. Heat gently to dissolve the sugar, then add the pears back in and bring to just below simmering. Cover and poach for 2 hrs or until the pears are tender. Set aside to cool, then refrigerate in the liquid overnight to steep.
3. The next day, remove the pears from the syrup and set aside. Put the syrup in a saucepan over a medium-high heat for 20-30 mins, stirring occasionally, until reduced to a sticky glaze. You should be left with about 200ml.
4. Stir through the cream and set aside to cool and thicken for 10 mins, stirring occasionally to check consistency – it should coat the back of a spoon and be the consistency of caramel. When the sauce is thick enough to drizzle, spoon it over the cake, allowing drips to run down the sides. You can test this by seeing how fast it drips down the inside of the pan.
5. Meanwhile, for the candied nuts, line a tray with nonstick baking paper. Put the remaining 50g sugar in a small frying pan with the nuts and 2 tbsp water. Heat over a medium heat for 3-4 mins, stirring all the time, until the sugar dissolves and the liquid evaporates, leaving an almost clear sticky coating over the nuts. Pour onto your prepared tray and quickly separate the nuts using 2 forks – they will be hot! Set aside for 10 mins to cool and harden.
6. When ready to serve, slice the pears in half lengthways and arrange 5 in the centre of the cake. Core and finely dice the final half. Roughly chop the nuts and arrange around the pear halves with the diced pear and crystallised ginger. Finish with a sprinkle of gold lustre.

See more Easy Christmas baking ideas