Pear Cardamom and Chocolate Cake

This week I´m posting 2 recipes.. at first I posted a recipe on Ginger & Orange cake pops and now a Chocolate, Pear and Cardamon cake!

Esta semana les he traído 2 recetas.. la primera fue Cake Pops de jengibre y naranja y hoy una tarta con los sabores de Chocolate, Pera y Cardamomo!




I must confess, I have fallen in love with the taste of cardamom.  I was told before that once you start baking with it, you´ll always seek recipes where you can incorporate it.. those words were 100% true!

Debo confesar que me he enamorado con el sabor a cardamomo. Me habían dicho que una vez que comenzara a hornear con él, siempre buscaría recetas en las que pudiera incorporarlo .. esas palabras fueron de 100% verdad!


Like I said on my last post, I feel completely liberated in the world of blogging and I love experimenting with new flavour combinations and stopped worrying if the majority out there will like what I do or not.. I need to believe in my own capabilities.. AND at the same time 
I´m learning alot!!  

Como dije en mi último post, me siento completamente liberada en el mundo de los blogs y me encanta experimentar con nuevas combinaciones de sabores y dejé de preocuparme si a la mayoría le va a gustar lo que hago o no .. Tengo que creer en mis propias capacidades .. Y al mismo tiempo, estoy aprendiendo mucho!


The really nice thing of Autumn is that we get to bake with all the amazing seasonal produce for example pears, apples, nuts, pumpkin, sweet potato and the list goes on.. not to mention the rich spices like cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg etc etc.  I for one love baking with all of these and if truth be told I´d post a new recipe everyday if I had the 
time ;-)

La cosa realmente agradable de otoño es que lleguemos a hornear con todos los increíbles productos de temporada, por ejemplo, las peras, las manzanas, las nueces, la calabaza, la batata y la lista sigue .. por no hablar de las ricas especias como el cardamomo, canela, clavo, jengibre, nuez moscada, etc, etc Por mi parte, me encanta hornear con todo esto y la verdad sea dicha que pondría una nueva receta cada día si tuviera tiempo;-)


I can promise you once you make this cake, you and your family will be fighting for the last slice..haha.. really.. we did!  I actually made this cake for a friend who came to visit me but when she left there was still quite a bit left and then the tug of war started.. I had the last slice.. while my hubby was at gym.. I feel kind of ashamed to tell you that but my mother taught me to never lie...... :-)..........

Les prometo que cuando hagan este pastel, usted y su familia estarán luchando por el último trozo .. jaja .. realmente .. lo hicimos! De hecho, hice esta tarta para una amiga que vino a visitarme, pero cuando se fue, sobró un poco y luego el principio de la guerra comenzó .. Cogí el último trozo .. mientras mi marido estaba en el gimnasio .. Me siento un poco avergonzada de decirle esto, pero mi madre me enseñó a no mentir ...... :-) ..........


The cake consist of 3 parts, first I baked a chocolate cake that contained cardamom spice, then I filled it with cream cheese frosting (you could easily use Mascarpone too..) and topped the cream cheese frosting with a pear and cardamom syrup and lastly topped it with another layer of the chocolate & cardamom cake.. so for the recipe..

for the Cake (enough to fill one 20cm cake pan):
VERSIÓN ESPAÑOL

Ingredients:
1  & 1/4 cup of flour
1 cup of brown sugar
1 & 1/4 tspn baking powder
1/2 tspn baking soda
1/3 cup of pure cocoa without sugar
1 tspn grounded cardamom 
pinch of salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup olive oil
2 eggs
1 tspn vanilla essence

Method:
Sift all the dry ingredients together, mix your eggs on high for 2 minutes, add your brown sugar and oil, mix on high for a further 4 minutes.  Add your vanilla and then slowly add your dry ingredients, lastly your buttermilk just until incorporated.  Never overmix your batter as your cake will be dense.  Preheat your oven at 175ºC and bake for 35-40 minutes.  Leave to cool until room temperature and put in the fridge (this helps to cake to firm up so that when you cut it into half it doesn´t break) while you prepare your other ingredients.

for the Pear & Cardamom syrup:

Ingredients:
1 cup of white sugar
1/2 tspn grounded cardamom
4 medium sized pears, peeled, cored and cut into wedges

Method:
On medium high heat dissolve the sugar until completely dissolved and it has a rich amber colour, lower the temperature to medium-low and add your pears and cardamom, cover and leave to simmer for about 10 minutes until the pears are just soft and they have incorporate the rich flavour of the cardamom.

for the Cream Cheese Frosting:
125g of butter without salt
1 cup of sifted icing sugar
1 cup of cream cheese or Mascarpone (full cream)

Method:
Cream your butter until pale in colour, add your icing sugar slowly and blend well.  Add your cream cheese lastly with a spatula to ensure the frosting is light and fluffy.

Now your cake is ready to be compiled.. :-)  I sprinkled my top with icing sugar but if you want to you can make a double portion of the cream cheese frosting and ice your cake with the other half on top!


Ready to serve with a nice cup of coffee.. this cake was simple and fast to make and perfect for any occasion.. I like uncomplicated things.. with a husband, teenager, toddler, house, life, responsibilites. etc etc (the list goes on..) so any recipe that even remotely seems complicated, I dont give a second look.. so believe me when I say this cake is easy to make & it´s delicious!!


Listo para servir con una buena taza de café .. esta tarta fue simple y rápida de hacer y perfecta para cualquier ocasión .. Me gustan las cosas sencillas .. con un marido, adolescente, niño, casa, vida, responsabilidades; etc etc (la lista sigue ..) por lo que cualquier receta que parezca remotamente complicada, no le echo un segundo vistazo .. así que créanme cuando digo que esta tarta es fácil de hacer y es deliciosa!


My next post is one of my favourite memories of my childhood but I´ve added my own twist (I like ´different´ but I´m sure you guys have realized that about me by now..).   Have a wonderful weekend and thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my posts and for sharing in my passion!

Mi próxima entrada es uno de mis recuerdos favoritos de mi infancia, pero he añadido mi propio toque (Me gusta "diferente" pero estoy segura de que ustedes ya se habían dado cuenta ..). Que tengan un fin de semana maravilloso y gracias desde el fondo de mi corazón por leer mis mensajes y por compartir mi pasión!



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