INGREDIENTS
100g pitted dates, roughly chopped
1/2 bicarb soda
60ml boiling water
100g unsalted butter, chopped
125g (2/3 cup, lightly packed) brown sugar
2 eggs
100ml extra virgin olive oil
150g plain yoghurt
finely grated zest of one lemon
200g (1 1/3 cups) self-raising flour
1 heaped teaspoon ground ginger
1 pears (about 400g total), peeled, cored and roughly chopped
maple syrup for drizzling
50g unsalted butter, softened
90g (3/4 cup) icing sugar, sifted
1 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup
METHOD
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius
- Grease a 24cm loaf tin with butter and line with baking paper
-
Mix the dates in a small bowl and sprinkle with bicarb. Cover with the
water and allow to stand for 10min (do not throw the water away!)
- Cream butter and sugar til pale and fluffy
- Add eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition
- Mix in olive oil, lemon zest, yoghurt, dates and water
- Stir in flour and ginger until just combined
- Gently stir in pear and spoon batter into tin
- Bake for 45-50min or until skewer comes out clean
- leave to cool in tin for a few minutes then turn out on to a rack to cool completely
-
For the maple buttercream, beat the butter an icing sugar together
until pale and fluffy (if using a kitchen aid or similar, for 4-10min or
until icing mix does not taste grainy)
- Spread the buttercream over the cake and drizzle a little maple syrup over the top to finish.
