Italian desserts Pear and chocolate cake torta di pera e cioccolato - YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Sign in Welcome!Log into your account Forgot your password? Password recovery Recover your password Search Sign in Welcome! Log into your account Forgot your password? Get help Password recovery Recover your password A password will be e-mailed to you. YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Home Food Italian desserts Pear and chocolate cake torta di pera e cioccolato By You Magazine - March 14, 2021 A rich, elegant dessert inspired by one from a favourite Florentine pastry shop. Sometimes you can find this cake encased in a shortcrust pastry too, but I love it on its own, particularly when it has a dense melt-in-the-mouth texture like this one. Lauren Bamford SERVES 8 50g granulated sugar 2 pears, peeled, cored and cut into eighths lengthways 150g dark chocolate 90g unsalted butter, cubed 90g caster sugar 90g ground almonds 3 eggs, separated 1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting icing sugar, for dusting Combine the sugar with 500ml water in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the pears and poach for 10-15 minutes, or until tender but not too soft (a knife should easily cut the flesh without resistance). Drain and let the pear cool. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan with about 2.5cm simmering water (make sure the base of the bowl is not touching the water). When melted, remove from the heat, add the butter and stir until the butter has melted. Add the sugar and ground almonds, stirring to combine. When the mixture is cool, add the egg yolks. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease a 22cm-24cm round springform cake tin and dust with the cocoa powder. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites to firm peaks, then fold them into the chocolate batter. Pour the chocolate mixture into the tin. Arrange the pear pieces on the top, pushing them slightly in. Bake for 40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. When cool, remove the cake from the tin and, just before serving, dust liberally with icing sugar. Serve in modest slices – this is rather rich. Now buy the book Our recipes are from Torta Della Nonna by food writer Emiko Davies (Hardie Grant, £16.99). Emiko has lived in Florence for more than a decade and the book is a collection of some of her beloved Italian desserts. To order a copy for £14.95 until 28 March, go to mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3308 9193. Free p&p on orders over £20. RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR Kids can eat for free at these restaurants during October half-term How to make the viral negroni sbagliato with prosecco at home 7 Halloween recipes with serious hex factor Popular in Food Gabriela Peacock 14-day plan Anytime baked eggs May 23, 2021 Joe Wicks’ maple-glazed chicken thighs with Asian slaw June 6, 2021 Mary Berry is returning to TV screens for a brand new June 15, 2021 Eleanor Maidment My summer taste notes July 4, 2021 Uyen Luu’ s sticky mustard marmalade ribs July 25, 2021 Annie Bell’ s white peach bellinis recipe August 8, 2021 M& S has launched a new crunchy Caramilk-inspired golden chocolate spread August 24, 2021 Deliciously preserved pickle and jam recipes September 19, 2021 Gordon Ramsay’ s bang bang cauliflower October 3, 2021 Wow right now Clodagh McKenna’ s speedy family dinners October 24, 2021 Popular CategoriesFood2704Life2496Fashion2240Beauty1738Celebrity1261Interiors684 Sign up for YOUMail Thanks for subscribing Please check your email to confirm (If you don't see the email, check the spam box) Fashion Beauty Celebrity Life Food Privacy & Cookies T&C Copyright 2022 - YOU Magazine. All Rights Reserved