STICKY PEAR AND GINGER PUDDING

Sticky Pear and Ginger Pudding

3 to 4 pears
6oz/ 170g soft margarine
60z/170g sugar
6oz / 170g self-raising flour
3 eggs
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 large tablespoons golden syrup
You will need an ovenproof dish, about 8″ in diameter – the sort of thing you might make quiche in.
Method:
Preheat the oven to GM 3/325ºF/170ºC, and put the ovenproof dish in it to warm.
Peel, core and quarter the pears, then poach them gently – I used the microwave for this – until they are just tender.  Or, you could use canned pears.
Cream the margarine and sugar, beat in the eggs, add the flour and ginger.  Mix well to make a cake batter.
Take the warmed dish from the oven, and put the syrup into it.  The hot dish will melt the syrup, making it easy to spread it over the bottom of the dish.
Arrange the pears evenly in the syrup.
Carefully spread the cake batter over the pears.
Bake in the oven, until the cake mix is firm and springy, and a knife inserted comes out clean.  It will probably take about 30 to 40 minutes, depending on your oven.
You can serve the pudding hot, straight from the dish.  Or, you can invert it over a plate and turn it out, serving either hot or cold.
The syrup melts into the sponge, making a lovely sticky, juicy pud – a comforting, rib-sticking winter warmer served hot with custard.*Helen Johnson**Lekker Resepte vir die Jongergeslag*26/6/13