Italian-style pear & ricotta cake

SERVES 10 PASTRY

125g chilled unsalted butter, chopped 1 ½ cups plain flour 2 tbsp Dutch-processed cocoa powder ¼ cup caster sugar 1 egg yolk 2 tbsp cold water

FILLING

250g cream cheese, chopped ½ cup caster sugar 3 eggs 400g ricotta 2 tbsp Cointreau 150g dark chocolate, finely chopped 100g glacé orange slices, finely chopped

TOPPING

410g can pear slices in juice, drained 1 ½ tbsp brown sugar ¼ cup toasted flaked almonds, grated chocolate, to decorate 1

To make pastry, put butter, flour, cocoa and sugar in a food processor. Blend until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add egg yolk and water, then process until mixture begins to form a ball. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead to form a smooth ball.

2

Flatten into a disc and cover with cling film. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Roll pastry out between two sheets of baking paper to a 32cm round. Peel away paper and line a 24.5cm wide (top measurement) x 5.5cm deep flan tin with removable base. Press pastry into tin. Trim edges. Use pastry off-cuts to fill in any spaces.

3

Refrigerate pastry case for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line pastry case with baking paper and fill with uncooked rice or baking beans. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove paper and rice or beans, and continue to bake for a further 10 minutes or until firm to touch. Cool on a wire rack.

4

To make filling, reduce oven temperature to 160°C. Place cream cheese and sugar in the large bowl of an electric mixer, beating until smooth. Add eggs, ricotta and Cointreau, beating until combined. Stir in chocolate and glacé orange until combined. Spoon into cooked pastry case and place on an oven tray.

5

To make topping, arrange pears on top of filling, then sprinkle pears with brown sugar.

Bake for 50-55 minutes or until set in the centre. Allow to cool in tin on a wire rack. Refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Remove from tin and place on a serving plate. Sprinkle with almonds and grated chocolate. Cut into wedges and serve.

NEW TWIST

To cross this delicious Italian tart with Middle Eastern flavour, omit cocoa from pastry base. Replace pears with a 410g can peach slices, drain, then place on a paper towel and pat dry. For filling, replace cream cheese with 250g tub mascarpone.

Beat mascarpone with sugar, eggs, ricotta and 2 tablespoons peach schnapps or dessert wine, instead of Cointreau, until just smooth. Stir in 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest, instead of glacé orange, and add chocolate. Bake for 1 hour. To serve, sprinkle with 2 tablespoons finely chopped pistachios and drizzle with lots of honey.