Pear Caramel Cake

Ingredients

• 75 g caster sugar, for the caramel
• 75 g butter, for the caramel
• 3 tbsp maple syrup
• ¼ tsp flaky sea salt
• 3 pears, peeled, cored and quartered
• 220 g butter, softened
• 120 g golden caster sugar
• 100 g light brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 100 g soured cream
• 220 g plain flour
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp fine salt
• Vanilla ice cream

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan). Line the base of a deep 20cm springform tin with parchment, letting it rise about 1cm up the sides.
2. Scatter the 75g caster sugar evenly across a small frying pan and set over a medium-low heat. Leave it alone for the first couple of minutes; stirring is what makes caramel crystallise; then swirl the pan as it melts. After 4–6 minutes you want a deep amber colour and a faint caramel smell, just past golden. Push it any further and it turns acrid; pull it too early and the flavour stays flat.
3. Off the heat, quickly stir in the 75g butter, maple syrup and a generous pinch of sea salt; it will bubble fiercely. The salt is doing real work here, cutting the sweetness and deepening the caramel flavour. Pour straight into the lined tin and tilt to coat the base.
4. Arrange the pear quarters in a tight circular pattern over the caramel, cut-side down. They'll release a little juice as they bake and marry into the caramel beneath.
5. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter with both sugars using an electric mixer for 6–8 minutes, until pale, fluffy and almost mousse-like. This is where the cake gets its lift; under-beat and you'll get a dense sponge.
6. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each so the mixture stays glossy and emulsified. If it looks curdled, add a spoonful of the flour to bring it back. Beat in the soured cream until smooth.
7. Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and a pinch of salt over the top; the salt lifts the cinnamon and stops the sweetness flattening out. Fold through gently with a spatula until just combined; stop the moment you can't see any flour streaks. Overworked batter means a tough sponge.
8. Spoon the batter over the pears and smooth the top. Bake for around 1 hour, until deeply golden, springy in the centre, and a skewer comes out clean. If the skewer shows wet batter, give the cake another 5 to 10 minutes.
9. Let the cake cool completely in the tin; this is important, or the caramel won't set enough to release cleanly.
10. Run a knife around the edge, release the springform, then invert onto a serving plate. Lift off the base and peel away the parchment to reveal the glossy pears and amber caramel beneath. Scatter a final pinch of flaky sea salt over the caramel and serve each slice with thick pouring cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream alongside.