Pear and chocolate pound cake

Name: Pear and chocolate pound cake
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 80 min
Total time: 100 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: Butter softened at room temperature 1 stick; Sugar 1 cup; Honey 2 tbsp; Eggs 2; Type 00 flour 2 cups; Unsweetened cocoa powder 3 tbsp; Whole milk 1 cup; Powdered yeast for sweets 2 tsp; Dark chocolate 5 oz; Vanilla bean 1; Bosc pears 1 lb; Powdered sugar to taste

Vegetarian

Difficulty: Average
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 1 h 20 min
Serving: 8 persone
Cost: Average

PRESENTATION

Pear and chocolate is a sublime treat, a morish pairing that features in countless tempting desserts we simply cannot resist: from the classic pear and chocolate cake, to the exotic pear and chocolate amaretti pie, without forgetting the refined chocolate tart with pears and pecan nuts. There's no stopping us and our desire to try out a new recipe in which pears and chocolate reign supreme: pear and chocolate pound cake. At first sight you may be forgiven for mistaking it for a simple chocolate pound cake: in truth it conceals a soft heart of fruit, which it unveils as soon as the first slice is cut. Its soft consistency, the enveloping and intense flavor of chocolate pleasantly contrasts the sweet pulp of pears that feature whole in this dessert. Pear and chocolate pound cake is a veritable seduction of the palate, the perfect dessert for your special occasions...all you need to do is give in to the temptation!

INGREDIENTS

Ingredients for an 11x4 inch (28x10 cm) mold: Butter 1 stick (200 g) - softened at room temperature; Sugar 1 cup (200 g); Honey 2 tbsp (50 g); Eggs 2 (115 g); Type 00 flour 2 cups (250 g); Unsweetened cocoa powder 3 tbsp (25 g); Whole milk 1 cup (200 g); Powdered yeast for sweets 2 tsp (10 g); Dark chocolate 5 oz (150 g); Vanilla bean 1; Bosc pears 1 lb (700 g)

For sprinkling: Powdered sugar to taste

Preparation

How to prepare Pear and chocolate pound cake

To prepare pear and chocolate pound cake, start by coarsely chopping the dark chocolate with a knife 1; place it in a mixing bowl, which in turn you'll place inside a saucepan with water, and cook it in bain-marie (the water in the saucepan must be level with the bottom of the bowl containing the chocolate) 2. Melt the chocolate on a medium flame to form a thick sauce 3, then leave to cool. In the meantime, continue with the preparation.

Sieve the 00 flour 4, unsweetened cocoa 5 and powdered yeast for sweets 6 over a bowl, also using the back of a teaspoon.

Stir the powders to mix them together 7. Place the pieces of softened butter 8 in another bowl, along with the granulated sugar 9,

the honey 10 and seeds extracted from the vanilla bean 11. Beat the mixture with an electric whisk until light colored and frothy 12,

then add the eggs and continue to whisk 13. Last of all, add the previously melted chocolate 14. Now gradually add the sieved powders with a spoon 15, beating all the while with the electric whisk.

To finish off, gradually add the milk at room temperature 16 and continue stirring to obtain a homogeneous mixture 17. Peel the pear, be sure to remove the stalk, then tip the lower part with a knife 18.

Butter and flour an 11x4 inch (28x10 cm) sponge cake mold with 3.2 inch tall sides, with a 6 cup capacity (or butter and line the bottom and sides with parchment paper). An openable cake mold is recommended, as it will be easier to remove the cake. Spread a layer of cake mix in the mold 19, position the peeled pears vertically inside it, with the tip facing up 20, then place the remaining cake mix in a pastry bag and use it to fill the cake mold 21, distributing the mix all around the pears,

covering them entirely apart from the tips 22. Bake the cake in a static oven preheated to 340°F (170°C) for 75 minutes; if the sponge cake darkens too much, cover with some tin foil and continue baking. Once baked, remove the pear and chocolate sponge cake from the oven, leave to cool, remove from the mold 23 and sprinkle with some powdered sugar 24. The pear and chocolate pound cake is ready to be enjoyed!