Recipe - Dark Chocolate, Pear And Pistachio Cake

 

Chocolate Lovers Unite! This is one rich and delicious recipe – have the cream handy for those that don’t love the intensity of a good chocolate hit. On this note, only use a thin layer of icing – I did go overboard!

You'll need

·         200 gm dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), coarsely chopped

·         70 gm (¾ cup) pistachio kernels, plus extra to serve

·         150 gm softened butter

·         150 gm caster sugar

·         3 eggs

·         150 gm (1 cup) plain flour, sieved

·         1 tsp baking powder

·         1 Packham pear, cored and coarsely chopped

 Chocolate Ganache

·         150 gm dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), coarsely chopped

·         150 ml pouring cream

Method

1.       Preheat oven to 160C. Process chocolate and pistachios in a food processor until coarse crumbs form, set aside. Beat butter and sugar in an electric mixer until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes). Add eggs one at a time, beating until well combined, then stir in flour and baking powder. Stir through pistachio and chocolate mixture, then pear, pour into a 22cm-diameter springform cake tin greased and lined with baking paper. Bake until an inserted skewer withdraws clean (30-40 minutes), cool in tin for 10 minutes, turn out and cool to room temperature on a wire rack.

2.       Meanwhile, for chocolate ganache, place chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set aside. Heat cream in a saucepan over medium heat to just below boiling, add to chocolate, stand until chocolate melts (3-5 minutes), then stir until smooth, set aside until slightly thickened (5-10 minutes). Smooth over top and sides of cake, scatter with pistachios, set aside to set (20-30 minutes), then serve. Cake will keep, stored in an airtighter container, for 3 days.

This recipe is from the April 2010 issue of Australian Gourmet Traveller.

http://www.gourmettraveller.com.au/recipes/recipe-search/fare-exchange/2010/5/dark-chocolate,-pear-and-pistachio-cake/