Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
3 firm pears
2 large eggs
1/3 cup raw sugar
tsp vanilla essence
Zest of one orange
Zest of one lemon
100g unsalted butter, melted
1 cup self-raising flour
Method
Preheat fan-forced oven to 170C (190C conventional). Grease a 20-centimetre cake tin with removable base and line the bottom with baking paper. Put sugar and water in a small saucepan and warm gently until sugar dissolves. Increase the heat and cook until the liquid is a light caramel colour. Pour into the tin and swirl around to cover the base.
Peel, core and quarter pears and arrange on top of the caramel, with points facing towards the centre.
Beat eggs with raw sugar, vanilla, orange and lemon zest. Add melted butter. Mix in flour. Place spoonfuls of batter over the top of the pears and gently spread, so as not to disturb the pears.
Bake in oven for 30-40 minutes or until the cake is set in the centre. Remove from oven and turn out on to a plate while the cake is still hot.
