Sticky pear & ginger cake

Sticky pear & ginger cake

This is a cross between a sticky toffee pudding and a ginger cake. Serve warm with ice cream or cream as a dessert

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 8 - 10

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 1 hr 10 mins

Cook time

Cook 1 hr 20 mins

Freezable

Method

  1. Put the chopped dates in a pan with the milk, butter, ginger preserve and dark muscovado. Heat gently until the butter has melted and the mixture starts to bubble round the edges of the pan. Stir well and set aside for 1 hr to cool.
  2. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Line the base of a buttered 23cm springform tin with baking parchment. Peel and chop the pears into large chunks. Mix the flour, chopped pecans and bicarb with the spices, then stir into the cooled date mixture with the eggs. Pour into the tin and scatter over the pears. Roughly break the reserved pecans and drop on top. Bake for 40 mins, then cover the top loosely with foil and return to the oven for 25-30 mins more until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out with just sticky crumbs - the cake may still look a little wet around the pears.
  3. While the cake is baking, make the brandy syrup. Tip the light muscovado sugar into a pan with 50ml water and dissolve over a low heat until syrupy. Stir in the brandy and set aside. When the cake is ready, spoon over half the syrup, then leave the cake to cool before serving with extra syrup on the side.
  4. To freeze, cool the cake in its tin, then wrap well and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost and warm through in a low oven. The syrup can be frozen separately, warmed, then drizzled over as before.

Per serving

521 kcalories, protein 7.0g, carbohydrate 89.0g, fat 13.0 g, saturated fat 3.0g, fibre 3.0g, sugar 72.0g, salt 0.64 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, November 2010.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 1-20

  • Binder photo jess2009

    24 October 2010

    jess2009 commented on this recipe

    lovely and sticky, went down a storm with the family...

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  • Binder photo dragongeorge

    26 October 2010

    dragongeorge rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    A truly scrumptious cake which I made with pears from my pear tree. Definitely one to make again. It tasted yummy warmed up the next day too!

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  • Binder photo lorim

    28 October 2010

    lorim commented on this recipe

    do you leave it in the tin when you freeze it and can you use canned pears thanks

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  • Binder photo clara jane

    30 October 2010

    clara jane rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Absolutely loved this! Very easy to make, tasted delicious. Served warm with cream and icecream and topped with the brandy syrup. Was a definite hit with guests and family. The only problem is there are no leftovers for tomorrow ....

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  • Binder photo lisamary

    31 October 2010

    lisamary rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Wow - Heaven in cake-form, straightforward to make and delicious to eat, especially with a plentiful supply of vanilla custard. The perfect Autumn pudding.

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  • Binder photo Candida

    06 November 2010

    Candida commented on this recipe

    Gorgeous and yes you can used tinned pears, I did - just make sure they are drained well, I used the juice from the tinned pears to make the syrup instead of the brandy. Will make again and again!

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  • Binder photo Foodmonster

    07 November 2010

    Foodmonster rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Beautiful cake! It came out exactly like on the picture, fruit did not sink to the bottom (like it always has done with every other cake I have made) and tasted absolutely delicious. Next time I will add more spice and reduce the amount of brandy. Even though I love boozy deserts, it was a little too overpowering.

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  • Binder photo Foodmonster

    08 November 2010

    Foodmonster commented on this recipe

    It's now 2 days later and I'm having leftovers of it at work for lunch and I must say, it tastes even better! It's one of my favourite cakes and I can't wait to make it again. My husband said that it should replace christmas pudding from now on - it tastes chrismassy without all the bits that he doesn't like.

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  • Binder photo Lingdada

    11 November 2010

    Lingdada rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This looks so delicious I can taste it online! Will bake and see how it really tastes!

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  • Binder photo Avril

    19 November 2010

    Avril rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Definitely a five star cake. Will make it again and again. A real winner.

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  • Binder photo Misa

    01 December 2010

    Misa rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Delicious!

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  • Binder photo Sabrina

    21 December 2010

    Sabrina rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    I've made this cake last Sunday for a pre-Christmas dinner. I've used less brandy, sprinkled it with edible gold glitter and served it with whipped cream (made with icing sugar and ground ginger). Absolutely delicious and perfect for the Christmas season!

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  • Binder photo Clarebrace

    31 December 2010

    Clarebrace rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I made a variation of this cake by using dates, marmalade and mixed spice instead of the dates, the ginger jam and ground ginger. It was a pre Christmas pudding and I made half the amount which serves 6 people. I cooked it in a lasagne type ovenproof dish Me and my husband ate 2 portions each over the next couple of nights, then I froze down the remainder for our Christmas 'Pudding'. It was delicious and is a wonderful, lighter alternative to conventional Christmas Pud which we personally find a bit too heavy. We have decided that this will become our regular alternative. I will say that the cake/pudding as I made it is much better served warm than cold.

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  • Binder photo Clarebrace

    31 December 2010

    Clarebrace commented on this recipe

    Sorry about the typo, I meant to say I used mincemeat instead of the dates for my version!

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  • Binder photo Maisy

    30 January 2011

    Maisy commented on this recipe

    This was delicious served with a dollop of creme fraiche. The syrup was very strong so I warmed it for about 15minutes to evaporate off some of the alcohol! YUM!

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  • Binder photo clootiedumplin

    02 March 2011

    clootiedumplin rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Definately one for my "Binder", it tasted "Devine" One of those Desserts to keep in the freezer for entertaining, as long as you take it out the night before! It froze in the tin, and was kept for two months before being "devoured" by family and friends in one sitting....no leftovers. When making again I would make double portion of sauce to make it "juicier"

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  • Binder photo Sarah

    26 September 2011

    Sarah rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This cake is yummy!! I am not too keen on Brandy so I made the syrup with Orange juice and dark muscovado sugar. Like the idea of freezing it, but have a feeling it will be eaten before it makes it to the freezer. Will be making this agin soon.

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  • Binder photo Kate

    20 October 2011

    Kate rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo Xena2807

    27 October 2011

    Xena2807 commented on this recipe

    Wow this is a lovely moist sticky cake! Made this for Sunday lunch & everyone loved it. I was a bit unsure about the brandy so i only poured half over and served the rest at the table so everyone could adjust as they liked and it wasn't overpowering at all. Absolutely gorgeous served with cream and got even better over time -not that it lasted very long!

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  • Binder photo Xena2807

    27 October 2011

    Xena2807 rated this recipe

    5 stars

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 8 - 10

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 1 hr 10 mins

Cook time

Cook 1 hr 20 mins

Freezable

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE

  • 250g stoned dates , finely chopped
  • 300ml milk
  • 100g butter , plus extra for the tin
  • 140g ginger preserve (you'll find this with the jams)
  • 140g dark muscovado sugar
  • 3 large ripe pears (we used Conference)
  • 175g self-raising flour
  • 50g pecans nuts, reserve 10 and chop the rest
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 2 tsp ground ginger
  • ½ tsp mixed spice
  • 2 eggs , beaten

FOR THE BRANDY SYRUP

  • 85g light muscovado sugar
  • 150ml brandy
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Per serving

521 kcalories, protein 7.0g, carbohydrate 89.0g, fat 13.0 g, saturated fat 3.0g, fibre 3.0g, sugar 72.0g, salt 0.64 g

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