There are some flavours that combine particularly well together. And that’s the case of chocolate, Amaretti biscuits and pears. The match of chocolate and pears is already well known, while the addition of Amaretti is less common but quite interesting.
For the few who are unfamiliar with Amaretti biscuits, they are almond flavoured macarons originally from the city of Saronno, usually available at every major supermarket. They have a slightly bitter aftertaste, that’s why they work so well in cakes batter.
This recipe comes straight from my mum’s notebook. After all, It’s just one of the many recipes I’ve been stealing from her over the years… 😉 And since pears are well in season now, why not to share with all of you? To make this cake try to find ripe and juicy pears (I’ve used Conference), so to give extra moistness. I find this cake delicious as it is, but you can serve it with a dollop of whipped cream to make it even more luscious.
Amaretti and pears chocolate cake
Ingredients
- 3 medium ripe pears
- 100 gr unsalted butter
- 150 gr dark chocolate
- 200 gr caster sugar (150 for the yolks and 50 for the whites)
- 3 medium eggs separated
- 150 gr natural yoghurt
- 100 gr Amaretti biscuits finely crushed
- 100 ml whole milk
- 120 gr cake flour
- 80 gr potato starch
- 16 gr baking powder
- 2 -3 tbsp rum
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- powder sugar to sprinkle (optional)
Directions
- Step 1 Peel the pears and slice each half in three parts. Place in a medium bowl and leave to flavour with the rum until you make the cake batter
- Step 2 Preheat the oven at 180ºC (160ºC fan) and coat a 26cm cake tin with butter and flour
- Step 3 Melt the butter and chocolate in the microwave and set aside to cool
- Step 4
- Step 5 In a bowl sieve the flour and baking powder together
- Step 6 In a separate bowl mix the milk, yoghurt and vanilla extract
- Step 7 With an electric hand mixer beat the egg whites adding 50 gr of sugar little by little until stiff picks are reached
- Step 8 In the meantime, in the bowl of a stand mixer beat the egg yolks with 150gr of sugar at medium high speed until pale and doubled in volume
- Step 9 Reduce the speed and add the cooled butter and chocolate, then the mixture of yoghurt and milk
- Step 10 Incorporate the flour and baking powder, then add the Amaretti biscuit reduced to a fine powder
- Step 11 Finally, gently fold the egg whites with a rubber spatula being careful not to deflate the batter
- Step 12 Pour the batter in the prepared cake tin and place the sliced pears all around
- Step 13 Bake for about 50 min or until a toothpick comes out clean
- Step 14 Allow to cool completely and unmold
- Step 15 Finish with a dust of powder sugar
*TIPS AND NOTES*
- The batter of this cake is very moist and light, so the pears slices will sink during the baking
- Potato starch can be found in health retailers like Holland and Barret, however you can replace it with cornstarch. Its main purpose is to make the cake texture fluffier
