For those of you not used to using cardamom as a pudding spice (you probably use it for curries) it is a really good complement to apples (you can stick a couple of pods to cook with the apples in apple pie, instead of using cloves) and is really excellent with pears. It really does seem to enhance the slightly fragrant sweetness of pears and transforms what is really quite a bog-standard pudding into something quite special. I always use dessert pears and those small ones you can buy quite cheaply in bags in supermarkets will do, as they soften with cooking and are sweetened by the sugar in the sponge layer on top. You can use apples instead of pears and it still makes a scrumptious finish to a meal, but my favourite is the pear version.
This isn't a recipe of my devising, I am not sure who originated it, but I thank whoever it was for a great pudding idea and I hope they don't mind me sharing the joy.
Preparation
Heat your oven to 180 C
Grease and line a with greaseproof paper loose bottomed cake tin (about 8ins diameter - sorry I'm not metric)
Ingredients
About six - eight small pears (more if you like - fewer if you are using large dessert pears - essentially you will need enough to fully cover the base of your tin when you have peeled, cored and sliced your pears)
4 ounces of self-raising flour (I warned you I wasn't metric!!)
1 teaspoon of baking powder
4 ounces of caster sugar
4 ounces of butter (softened)
2 eggs
10 cardamom pods
Method
For the Cake bit
1. Remove the green coat from the cardamom pods and carefully remove the black seeds from inside - crush them lightly using a pestle and mortar
2. Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl
3.Add the crushed cardamom seeds, mix lightly into the flour with a spoon
4. Add the rest of the ingredients (except the pears)
5. Whisk using an electric beater until the mixture becomes creamy (your butter will need to be quite soft, to do this successfully)- you will see the mixture change colour very slightly (it will go paler) when you have whisked enough. This should only take a few minutes. (You can do this by hand with a wooden spoon, but it takes a some effort)
For the Pear bit
6.Peel and core the pears - slice the pears into rough quarters/sixths and arrange on the bottom of your lined tin. Try to cover the bottom totally with your pear slices.
7.Spoon the cake mixture over the pears, and level off, so that all the pears are covered with the mixture.
The Cooking bit
Cook in the oven (if you have a fan oven, you may need to reduce the temperature to about 160C) for about 40-50 minutes. The top should be golden brown when cooked - a thin bladed knife should come out clean, when inserted into the centre of the cake - if it is still coated with a little uncooked mixture, put back in the oven for a short time.
The Eating bit
Remove from the tin to cool slightly - you will be glad you lined it, believe me!
It can be served hot or (equally scrummy) cold, with cream or custard.
(Serves about 8 depending on the generosity of your slices)
I could wax lyrical about the medical qualities of cardamoms - like most spices we do use it as a 'herb' in herbal medicine - they do have a positive effect on the digestion, but I shall leave that for another day. Enjoy