Ingredients
250g unsalted butter, room temperature, chopped, plus extra for greasing
400g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
250g caster sugar
8 eggs
1/3 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon powder
3 tsp baking powder
450g goat’s curd
250g sour cream
Poached brown sugar pears
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthways, seeds scraped
2 cinnamon sticks
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
6 Packham or beurre bosc pears, peeled
Method
-
Preheat oven to 180C. Grease a 24cm springform tin with butter and dust with flour. Beat butter and half of the sugar with an electric mixer until pale and creamy. Beat in 4 of the eggs, 1 at a time, making sure they are all well incorporated.
-
Slowly beat in the milk and vanilla. In another bowl, sift flour, cinnamon and baking powders, then gradually add to butter mixture, beating slowly to make a batter.
-
Break up curd and place in a separate large bowl. Add sour cream and beat with a wooden spoon until well combined. Beat in the remaining sugar and remaining eggs, one at a time, until smooth.
-
Spread cake batter into prepared pan. Spread over base and two-thirds of the way up the sides. Pour curd mixture into centre of cake batter. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack.
-
While cake is cooling, make the poached brown sugar pears. Place 1 litre of water in a large saucepan. Add vanilla bean and scraped seeds, cinnamon sticks, nutmeg and sugar. Stir over a medium to high heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil. Reduce to medium-low.
-
Add pears. Cook, partially covered, turning occasionally, for 20 minutes or until just tender. Remove saucepan from the heat. Allow pears to cool slightly in syrup, turning occasionally.
-
Using a slotted spoon, transfer pears to a plate. Return syrup to a medium-high heat and bring to the boil. Boil for 10 minutes or until syrup has reduced by one third. Allow to cool.
-
Place goat’s curd cake on a serving plate and spoon over some of the syrup. Serve pears (cut into quarters, if desired) and remaining syrup with cake.
