Flourless walnut Cake with Poached Pears

Serves: 8 Prep Time: 20 min Cook Time: 40 min

Butter for greasing 350g California walnuts, plus extra to scatter 4 eggs

1 lemon, zest and juice

225g golden caster sugar 1tbsp icing sugar, plus extra to dust

4 ripe conference pears 8 cardamom pods Pinch of saffron 150g caster sugar Greek yogurt or creme fraiche to serve

1

Preheat oven to 180C/gas 4, and grease and base line a 9in cake tin with baking parchment. 2

Put walnuts into a food processor and blitz to a flour-like consistency.

3

Separate eggs into two mixing bowls. Whisk yolks, lemon zest and caster sugar with an electric hand whisk, until pale and creamy. Whisk egg whites to stiff peaks. Mix walnuts into beaten yolks, then fold in egg whites.

4

Spoon mixture into tin and bake on centre shelf of oven for 35-40 min (or until cooked in centre and risen). When cool, dust with icing sugar and scatter over a few chopped walnut pieces. 5

Peel and halve pears, scooping out core. Crush cardamom pods slightly, then put them – along with pears, saffron, lemon juice, caster sugar and 250ml water – in a pan over a low heat. Poach for 15-20 min until soft. 6

Slice cake into 8. Serve each slice with a poached pear and a blob of yogurt or creme fraiche.

9 93p perpe serving g