Pear & almond cake

Ingredients
- 100g flaked almonds
- 150g unsalted butter (at room temperature), plus extra for greasing
- 150g caster sugar
- 3 large free-range eggs
- 150g self-raising flour
- 1 pinch of ground allspice
- 3 heaped tablespoons natural yoghurt (approx 75g), plus 8 tablespoons, to serve (200g)
- 1 orange
- 1 pear
- 1 tablespoon icing sugar, for dusting
- olive oil, for spritzing
- 1 tablespoon runny honey
Instructions
- 1
Preheat the oven to 160ºC/325ºF/gas 3. Grease and line a 23cm springform cake tin with greaseproof paper.
- 2
Place 60g of the flaked almonds in a blender, reserving the rest for the topping, and blitz to a fine powder.
- 3
In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and caster sugar together for 2 minutes with an electric whisk (you could also do this by hand). Add the eggs one by one, making sure you beat each one in well before you add the next, then fold in the flour, ground almonds, allspice and 3 heaped tablespoons of yoghurt. Finely grate in the orange zest, add a pinch of sea salt, and mix until smooth.
- 4
Thinly slice the pear into 3mm-thick slices, discarding the stalk and core, fan out on a board, lightly dust with half the icing sugar and set aside for 2 minutes.
- 5
Pour the cake batter into the lined tin, smoothing the top with a spatula. Arrange the pears on top, pressing down lightly, then scatter over the reserved flaked almonds. Spritz the top of the cake with a little olive oil, then dust with the remaining icing sugar and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until golden and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Release the cake from the tin, then transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool for 20 minutes.
- 6
Meanwhile, squeeze the orange juice into a small pan with the honey, place on a low heat and simmer until thickened and reduced.
- 7
Spoon most of the orange drizzle over the cooled cake, then slice up and serve with a dusting of icing sugar, a dollop of yoghurt and a little more drizzle.

