Pear and ginger is a wonderful combination, with warming ginger complementing the pears’ aromatic sweetness. Best of all, maybe, this loaf keeps for a week and remains soft if wrapped tightly in greaseproof paper or clingfilm; it can also be frozen and defrosted when needed.
Sticky ginger loaf with poached pears
Prep 20 min
Cook 1 hr 15 min
Serves 8
160g unsalted butter (or dairy-free baking spread), plus extra for greasing
300ml whole milk (or oat milk)
160g unsalted butter (or dairy-free baking spread)
150g light brown sugar
75g black treacle
3 pieces stem ginger, plus 100ml of their syrup
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 eggs
100ml neutral oil (of your choice)
350g self-raising flour
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Thick cream or custard, to serve
For the poached pears
150g caster sugar
1 cinnamon stick
Juice of ½ lemon
4 pears, peeled but left whole
For the pears, put the sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice in a saucepan with 500ml water. Make a cartouche (lid) with baking paper to sit directly on top of the water while the pears poach. Put the pan on a medium heat until the liquid starts to simmer, then turn down the heat slightly, pop in the pears and cover with the paper lid. Poach for 20-25 minutes, until the pears are soft and you can insert a knife without much resistance. Take off the heat and leave to cool completely.
Lift the pears out of the liquor, then, on a high heat, reduce the liquid by about a quarter and set aside.
For the loaf, heat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/350F/gas 4. Grease and line a 450g loaf tin (or two smaller tins) with baking paper. In a saucepan, heat the milk, butter, light brown sugar, treacle and 100ml ginger syrup, stirring frequently, until steaming.
Whisk the bicarb into the warm milk mixture (be careful: it will bubble up, so make sure the pan is deep enough). In a bowl, lightly whisk the eggs, add the oil and mix well. Gradually and slowly, whisk the eggs into the milk mixture.
In a large bowl, mix the flour with the ground ginger and ground cinnamon, then add to the wet mixture a few large spoonfuls at a time, using the whisk to bring it all together. Try to knock out as many lumps as possible, so you end up with a smooth batter. Chop the stem ginger and stir it through the batter.
Pour the batter into the lined tin(s) – it should reach just over three-quarters of the way up the insides of the tin (do not be tempted to overfill the tin, or the batter will spill out while baking). Bake for 45 minutes to an hour (30-35 mins for two smaller tins), or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove and leave to cool a little, then brush the top with the reduced pear stock. Serve a slice of the loaf with a few slices of the poached pear and a dollop of thick cream or hot custard.
