Lemony pear pudding

I know we needed rain - but why does it always have to come at the weekend? I should have been using the time well and making of the most of this rainy Sunday afternoon to finish off some painting in my hallway (ahead of opening The Garden Suite B&B in part of my house - more of that in another post...!). But instead, it seemed like a much more fun option to make this pear pudding - and anyway the pears, picked in the garden yesterday, were already starting to soften and I might not have had another chance to use them this week.

The recipe is a lovely combination of light-as-a-feather sponge with a gooey, saucy, lemony layer underneath and a base of tender pears. Perfect with custard or cream - and just what's need while watching Strictly on iPlayer this afternoon as I missed it last night!

Lemony Pear Pudding

4 pears
zest and juice of a lemon
2 tbsp water
75g soft butter
100g caster sugar
100g self-raising flour
half tsp ground ginger
2 eggs
1 tbsp water

Cut the pears into quarters and core them (no need to peel them, unless you really want to). Arrange in the base of an ovenproof dish and add the lemon juice and zest.

Cream the butter and sugar together (it's quickest to do this in a food processor), then beat the eggs in a cup with a fork and add them a little at a time, beating after each addition. Fold in the flour and ginger with a metal spoon and add 1 tbsp of water to slacken the mixture. Spoon the mixture over the pears and bake for 30-35 mins at 160C (fan oven) until golden.

Serves 4-6

A COOK’S PLOT TIP: This works well with dessert apples or cooking apples too - if using the latter, sprinkle 1-2 tbsp of sugar over them before topping with the sponge batter. Apricots are lovely in this too, especially if you substitute 50g of the flour for 50g ground almonds.

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