Italian Cuisine with Jolanta – SICILIAN PEAR AND CHOCOLATE CAKE

Serves 8

 INGREDIENTS:

100 ml olive oil

150 g sugar

2 eggs

200 g flour

50 g cornstarch (Maizena)

10 g baking powder

75 ml milk

5 pears

125 g chocolate chips

PREPARATIONS: 

• Preheat oven to 180C.

• Grease and line the base of a 23cm cake form. 

• Peel, halve and core the pears. Two of them chopp up into small pieces.

• Using an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment whisk the oil, sugar and eggs until double or triple in volume. 

• Mix together flour, cornstarch and baking powder. Sift in half of the flour mix and milk and stir. Sift in the remaining flour mix and stir until smooth. 

• Then add chopped up pears and chocolate chips. Scoop into the prepared cake form.

• Score the pears using a sharp knife making sure not to cut all the way through. Place these on top of the cake and gently submerge them a little.

• Bake for 1 h – 1 h 20 min or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.