Pear and Pecan Delights

On one of our recent wet Bank Holiday weekends (take your pick!), Dawn was bedbound with a nasty flu-death-plague-monia type illness, so with all the kids off out doing something I decided to spend the afternoon in the kitchen.

Amongst other things, I came up with this; dead simple to make and very tasty.  You could substitute any soft fruit and nut for variation; Apple and Walnut, Peach and Almond, even Pineapple and Macadamia for a tropical edge… hmmm… that last one I’ve just thought of!  Guess what I’m doing this afternoon…

Ingredients

125g unsalted butter

200g light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

250g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 medium sized pears

100g pecan nuts

Icing sugar, for dusting

The Prep

1.      Leave the butter at room temperature for a while so that it’s soft

2.      Preheat the oven to 180 degrees/ gas 4

3.      Grease and line a 20cm/8 inch square cake tin

4.      Crack the eggs into a cup and lightly beat with a fork

5.      Peel and core the pears and chop finely

6.      Roughly chop the pecans – not too fine though.  You want lumps of pecan in the cake.

The Method

1.      Mix the butter and sugar together thoroughly.  It should feel quite light to move about.

2.      Add the vanilla extract to the cup with the eggs, stir and then add gradually to the mixture, beating well after each addition

3.      Sift the flour and baking powder and add to the mixture in stages.  Make sure it is completely mixed in before adding the next lot.

4.      Throw in the pears and pecans a few at a time and again, mix well.

5.      Transfer the mixture to the baking tin with a spoon and smooth it off level with the spoon back.

6.      Bake in the oven for 40 minutes or until golden in colour.

7.      Set aside to cool in the tin and then dust with the icing sugar before cutting into squares.