Prep: 1 hour
Cook: 35-40 minutes
Serves: 8
What You’ll Need:
- Butter for greasing
- 350g California Walnuts
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 4 eggs
- 225g golden caster sugar
- 1 tbsp icing sugar
For the poached pears:
- 4 ripe conference pears
- 8 cardamom pods
- Pinch of saffron
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 150g caster sugar
- 250ml water
- Greek yoghurt to serve
What To Do:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C, grease and line the base of a 9-inch cake tin with a circle of baking parchment.
- Place the walnuts into a food processor and blitz until you have a flour like consistency.
- Separate the eggs into 2 mixing bowls.
- Whisk the egg yolks, lemon zest and caster sugar with an electric hand whisk until pale and creamy, then whisk the egg white to stiff peaks.
- Mix the blended walnuts into the egg yolks, then fold in the egg whites.
- Spoon the cake mixture into your prepared cake tin, place on the middle shelve of the oven, and bake for 35-40 minutes (or until cooked in the centre and risen).
- Meanwhile, peel the pears and cut in half, scooping out the core with a melon baller or teaspoon, and bruise the cardamom pods.
- Add the peeled pears, saffron, cardamom pods, lemon juice, caster sugar and water to a medium sized saucepan over a low heat and poach the pears for 15-20 minutes, or until soft and infused.
- Slice the cake into 8 and serve each slice with a poached pear on the side and a blob of Greek yogurt or crème fraiche.
Cooks tip
Crème fraiche works just as well as Greek yoghurt depending on your preference.