We are in the shadow of the autumn equinox, and the cold is starting to make itself felt. Just like that, the seasons are turning, and there’s something so damn groovy about the change. I relish the colder months in Italy. It is quiet and calm, and the sheer illustriousness of the place can be better appreciated without the swarms of visitors. You really get a sense that Italy herself is catching her breath and resting.
While resting however she is also delivering amazing produce just to let us know that she hasn’t lost her spark. These days, it is a dazzling selection of early autumn pears that hang plump, like golden Christmas decorations, and that pack fruit stalls. My neighbour tells me, that the Romans developed over 50 varieties of pear and planted them across Europe. They are also attributed with making a spicy, stewed pear, souffle’ type dessert known as patina. I tell you, those Romans – my kinda guys!!
Today, I didn’t make a souffle’ type patina anything, but I did poach, plump pears in Marsala, then loaded them into an absolute beauty of a cake. It was on the pudding end of the cake spectrum, buttery and enriched by almond flour. The recipe I found in an old edition of the Australian Delicious magazine (recipe by Belinda Jeffery) to which I then made modifications. The recipe was on a loose page and carried a post-it note. It had survived more than one house move, but it had never been tried. When I came across it again, I felt a jolt of inspiration to bake it. I smiled to myself too, just considering, that in all the years the recipe lay around, ignored, almost abandoned, it clearly hadn’t lost its hold over me. I must have loads of recipes like this, on loose pages, scribbled onto scraps of paper, or earmarked in books. And all of them, powerful little guardians of goodness like this one.
For this cake, I used small, blush red Coscia pears but any variety that hold their shape when cooked would do well. For poaching, I substituted the Muscat in the original recipe for Sicilian Marsala, and I added a cinnamon stick for some extra character. The recipe is simple enough, although the ordering of the ingredients differs from your standard formula. Truly, I know nothing about the science of baking or cake chemistry, but following the technique of the original recipe rendered a great result so, … no questions asked from me. The chemistry between my taste buds, and the cooked cake … well, that’s pure leerrrve.
I added to the cake a splash of Italian almond syrup that we’d collected on a holiday in Puglia. Almond syrup is thick and sweet, and it is used liberally throughout the south of Italy in granita, cakes, cool drinks and hot drinks turned cold like the delicious iced Caffe’ Leccese. If you can’t find almond syrup you could add a wee drop more of almond extract, or just let the other flavours speak more loudly.
What recipes I wonder, have you marked for making but never got around to? I consider this Marsala poached pear and almond number, a bit of a triumph. Yay me !
Marsala Poached Pear and Almond Cake – Torta di Pere, Marsala e Mandorle
Poached pears
- 3 – 4 firmish pears
- squeeze of fresh lemon
- 1 cup (250ml) marsala
- 1 cinnamon stick
Cake
- 1½ cups (180g) almond meal
- ½ cup (75g) self-raising flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 eggs
- 250g caster sugar, plus extra to dust
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- 30ml almond syrup
- 200g butter, melted and cooled
- Icing sugar to dust
- almond syrup to drizzle
To prepare the pears: peel, quarter and core the pears. Squeeze over the lemon juice. Lie the cut pears in a single layer in a small frypan of saucepan so they are snug. Add the marsala and the cinnamon stick. Place over medium-high heat until the liquid comes to the boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer carefully turning the pears once while they cook. Cook for around 10 minutes or until just tender (cooking time will vary depending on the variety and firmness of the pears). At this point, gently transfer the pears to a bowl, then increase the heat and reduce the liquid to around ½ cup (125ml). Pour the reduced liquid over the pears and leave to cool. If time permits, poaching the pears could be done in advance, leaving them overnight to really drink in the flavor of the sweet marsala.
For the cake: preheat the oven to 180 deg C. Line the base and sides of a 24cm springform pan with baking paper and lightly butter.
Place the almond meal and flour in a large bowl with ¼ a teaspoon of salt. Using a balloon whisk, whisk together for 40 secs to aerate. In a separate bowl, add the eggs, caster sugar, vanilla and almond extracts, and the almond syrup. Whisk until thoroughly combined. Add the cooled, melted butter and stir. Combine the two bowls, stiring together the wet and dry ingredients. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, and spread out evenly.
Pat the pears dry with paper towel then halve the pieces lengthwise and lay decoratively on top. Sprinkle a little caster sugar over each slice of pear.
Bake the cake for around 55 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. If the cake seems to be browning too quickly, cover loosely with aluminum foil after around 40 minutes.
Transfer the cake to a rack and allow to cool. Remove the pan and baking paper. Dust lightly with icing sugar and serve.
