Pears are in season, use them in this fragrant autumn cake

The result is a tender, fragrant pudding-like cake with a slight tang from the yoghurt. It’s a perfect morning (or afternoon) tea cake.

Pear and thyme cake by Elizabeth Hewson. Photo: Nikki To / TWAM

Autumn has a contender for the season’s best ingredient: pears. In this recipe, they’re simmered in a simple brown sugar caramel before being layered over a buttery yoghurt cake batter and topped with a lemon thyme syrup. As it bakes, the pears sink through, perfuming the batter as they go. The result is a tender, fragrant pudding-like cake with a slight tang from the yoghurt. It’s a perfect morning (or afternoon) tea cake, best served with a dollop of that crème fraîche.

Try too my autumn mushroom pasta.

Serve with creme fraiche. Photo: Nikki To / TWAM

Thyme gives this cake a lift. Photo: Nikki To / TWAM

Autumn pear cake

Ingredients

For the pears

• 3 medium ripe pears, peeled, halved, and cored

• 50g unsalted butter

• 3 tablespoons brown sugar

• Pinch of salt


For the cake


• 150g butter, at room temperature

• 200g (1 cup) caster sugar

• 3 eggs, at room temperature

• 250g (1 cup) full-fat Greek yoghurt

• 60ml (¼ cup) full-fat milk

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• Zest of 1 lemon

• 130g (1 cup) plain flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

• Pinch of salt


For the syrup


• 80ml lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons caster sugar

• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves

• Pinch of salt


To serve

• Crème fraîche or cream

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C (170C fan-forced). Grease and line a 22cm cake tin with a removable base. Set a large frying pan over medium heat. Melt the butter, then sprinkle over the brown sugar and salt. Place the pears cut-side down and leave to cook, untouched, for about 10-15 minutes or until they start to soften and caramelise.
2. Once done, spoon the sauce over them and set aside to cool slightly. For the cake, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer for about 3 minutes until light and creamy, scraping down the sides as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each. Mix in the yoghurt, milk, vanilla and lemon zest. Fold through the flour, baking powder, bicarb and a pinch of salt. Spoon the batter into the tin and smooth the top.
3. Arrange the pear halves, cut-side up, on top, drizzling over any leftover caramel. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until golden and puffed – test with a skewer to check if it’s done. While the cake is baking, place a small pot over medium heat. Add the lemon juice and sugar, bring to a boil and simmer for 3 minutes until the sugar dissolves. Stir in the thyme leaves, then turn off the heat and set aside. As soon as the cake is out of the oven, pour over the syrup and let it soak in for about 20 minutes. Slice and serve with crème fraîche or cream.

Serves 6-8