Perfect for afternoon tea:

Recipe

You will need:

• 20cm round, loose based, deep cake tin, greased with baking paper on the base
• 180g plain flour
• 130g golden caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking power
• ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1½ teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 balls stem ginger (usually from a jar with syrup), diced finely
• 3 large eggs
• 100ml natural plain yoghurt
• 100ml vegetable oil
• 4 pears

For the topping

• 1 tablespoon demerara sugar

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170°C / 340°F

In a bowl, add the flour, caster sugar, baking powder, bicarb, cinnamon and ground ginger. Stir with a whisk until well mixed.

In a separate bowl, add the yoghurt, oil, eggs and stem ginger. Whisk until well combined.

Peel and slice the pears into thick strips, like chips, with the round sides cut in half. Put to one side.

Make a well in the middle of the dry mix and pour the wet mix.

Using a wooden spoon, combine gently until well mixed but do not do this for very long, you want a relatively loose mixture.

Pour into your cake tin. Press the pears into the top.

Place in the oven for 50 minutes. Check the middle is baked with a skewer, it should be clean when removed. Otherwise wait another 5-10 minutes until the skewer is clean.

Cool on a wire rack. The first 10 minutes in the tin, then take the tin away and leave on just the baking paper.