Lemon, almond and pear pud

A light prepare-in-advance sponge dessert to round off the afternoon
Serves 8.

Preparation 15 mins, Cooking 1 hour.

Ingredients
450g firm pears, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
Juice of I lemon
225g self-raising flour
2tsp baking powder
400g caster sugar
4 large eggs
150g ground almonds
225g butter, melted

Method
1:- Preheat oven to 18Oc/Gas4.
Grease and line a 20cm X 28cm roasting tin with greaseproof paper. Toss the sliced pears in half the lemon juice and set aside.

2:- Sift the flour, baking powder and 350g caster sugar into a large bowl. Beat the eggs and stir into the flour, along with the ground almonds and butter. Stir together then spread half the mixture evenly into the tin.

3:- Arrange three-quarters of the pears on top, then pour over the rest of the mixture. Decorate with the remaining pears. Bake in the oven for 1 hour until the cake is golden and firm to the touch.

4:- Stir together the remaining lemon juice and caster sugar and pour over the cake while hot. Leave to cool completely, then turn out and remove the paper. Serve with vanilla ice cream. This dish is not suitable for freezing.