for the pears:

• 15g butter
• 3 large firm-ish pears (peeled and diced)
• 1tbsp soft brown sugar

for the cake:

• 150g soft butter
• 125g castor sugar
• 2 medium eggs
• 75g self raising flour
• 75g ground almonds
• 1tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 170c and lightly grease and line a 20cm cake tin
2. Melt the butter over a medium heat. When completely melted add the 1tbsp sugar and the pears
3. Stir occasionally until the pears have browned and set aside to cool
4. Cream the castor sugar and 150g butter until pale and fluffy. Add one egg at a time and then fold in the flour, cinnamon and ground almonds. If the flour curdles add a little of the flour and whisk until smooth
5. Pour the mixture into the cake tin and place the pears on top, decorating however you like, pushing down slightly until they are almost covered
6. Bake for 45 minutes until the tines of a fork (or skewer) come out clean
7. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes and then place on a cooling rack until cool or eat warm with ice cream