Ginger Pear Pudding & Toffee Sauce

I adapted this recipe for Ginger Pear Pudding & Toffee Sauce from one by Mary Berry. Mary Berry’s recipe lacked ginger. But I believe ginger complements pears exceptionally well, so I decided to incorporate it. Indeed, for this recipe, I included both ground ginger and some chopped crystallised ginger. Both ingredients enhance the flavour, while crystallised ginger also adds another texture when you take a bite. The toffee sauce boasts a rich molasses flavour, which pairs perfectly with the sponge pudding.

So, the recipe features a delightful sponge cake for the pudding, accompanied by the toffee sauce. I acknowledge that black treacle/molasses has a distinct and robust flavour, which may not appeal to everyone. Therefore, I suggest that you can use golden syrup instead of black treacle/molasses in the sauce, if you wish. This will also yield a wonderful sauce, similar to what’s often served with sticky toffee pudding.

Method

Preparing this dessert is straightforward. It utilises tinned pear halves to simplify the process. Mixing the ingredients is also easy: cream the butter and sugar, add the eggs, followed by the molasses and milk. Fold in the dry ingredients, and finally, add most of the pears, chopped. Spread the batter into a greased pan and sprinkle finely chopped crystallised ginger on top. Bake the sponge in the oven for approximately 40 minutes.

While the cake is baking, prepare the sauce by heating all the ingredients to melt the butter. Then, boil the mixture for a couple of minutes to slightly thicken it. Once the cake is out of the oven, pour about half of the sauce over it. Place a few slices of the reserved pear on top. When serving the pudding, drizzle some more sauce over it as well.

My Ginger Pear Pudding & Toffee Sauce

I tasted a substantial portion of the pudding with sauce. The sponge had a perfect springiness and felt incredibly soft. The flavour had a rich and gingery quality, with the pear’s fruitiness enhancing both the flavour and texture. My sauce turned out perfectly as well, with a sweet and unctuous consistency and that unmistakable molasses flavour. All in all, this dessert proves to be excellent and pairs wonderfully with ice-cream, cream, or custard. It is a great autumnal dessert.

Another great dessert recipe is: German Sunken Apple Cake.

Ginger Pear Pudding & Toffee Sauce

Recipe by geoffcoo(adapted from Mary Berry)Course: DessertsCuisine: InternationalDifficulty: Medium

Servings

8

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

40

minutes

Ingredients

• Sponge Cake Pudding

• 1 400g(14 oz) can of pear halves, drained and dried.

• 175g(1 cup + 2 1/2 tbsp, based on scooping packed flour into a 250ml cup) Self raising flour – see note below if using plain flour

• 150g(3/4 cup) soft light brown sugar

• 75g(5 tbsp+1 tsp) softened unsalted butter

• 2 large eggs(XL in USA) – my eggs, out of the shell weighed 120g(4 1/2 oz)

• 125ml(1/2 cup + 1 tsp) milk

• 40g(2 tbsp) black treacle/molasses

• 4g(1 tsp) baking soda

• 9g(3 tsp) ground ginger

• 20g(about 2 1/2 tbsp) finely chopped crystallised ginger

• Toffee Sauce

• 400mlI1 2/3 cups) double cream

• 175g(3/4 cup+ 2 tbsp) soft light brown sugar

• 100g(7 tbsp) unsalted butter

• 40g(2 tbsp) black treacle/molasses – see note below for an alternative

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/350F
• Grease an ovenproof dish that will hold at least 2 litres(3 1/2 imperial pints) of liquid. My dish was 9 x 11 inches(23 x 27 cm). A round, oval, rectangular or square dish will be fine.
• Cut one pear half into thin slices and set aside.
• Chop the remaining pear halves into cubes of about 1 cm.
• In a large bowl cream together the light brown sugar and the butter for the sponge, until light and fluffy.
• Add the eggs and beat until they are combined.
• Pour in the black treacle/molasses and the milk and whisk until they are combined too.
• Add the baking powder and ground ginger into the flour and stir to mix through.
• Pour that dry mixture into the bowl and fold it in until combined.
• Add the pear cubes and stir those in too.
• Spread the batter evenly over the base of the prepared pan and sprinkle the finely chopped crystallised ginger on the top.
• Bake the sponge for 40 minutes, until it has risen and is springy to the touch.
• As the sponge bakes place all the ingredients for the sauce into a saucepan and heat gently until the butter has melted.
• Increase the heat and bring the mixture to a boil.
• Stirring all the while boil the sauce for a couple of minutes until it has thickened slightly.
• Pour about half the sauce over the sponge and arrange the pear slices on the top.
• The dessert is ready to serve, more sauce can be poured over each serving.
• Serve with custard, ice-cream or cream, if desired.

Notes

• If using plain flour instead of self raising flour use the same weight of flour and mix 8g(2tsp) of baking powder into it.
• You can use golden syrup instead of black treacle or molasses in the sauce. This will make a wonderful sauce but without the strong molasses flavour.