Mary Berry has so many delicious dessert recipes that are fitting for the Easter holiday – one of which is her toffee pear pudding.
This indulgent “easy and delicious” dessert recipe that comes from Mary Berry’s BBC Two series Simple Comforts has all the gooey sweetness of a sticky toffee pudding but with an added hint of freshness from the pears.
Mary described the dish as “the ultimate comfort dessert”. She added: “This is gooey and warming with a nice touch of freshness from the pear. As naughty as a pudding can be.”
The pear pudding takes less than 30 minutes to prepare and just 40 minutes to bake in the oven.
Baked in a large dish, this is a family-sized pudding, spooned out or cut into squares to serve.
For this recipe, you will need a shallow two-litre ovenproof dish, measuring about 30x20x6cm.
Ingredients
For the sponge
400g tin of pears, halved, drained and dried
75g butter, softened and extra for greasing
150g light muscovado sugar
Two large eggs
175g self-rising flour
One teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
Two tablespoons black treacle
125ml mik
For the sauce
100g butter
175g light muscovado sugar
400ml double cream
Half a teaspoon vanilla extract
Two tablespoons black treacle
Method
Start by preheating the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4 and lightly grease the dish with some butter.
Slice one pear half into thin horseshoe shapes and set these aside for decoration. Cut the remaining pears into 1cm pieces.
To make the pudding, measure the butter and sugar into a mixing bowl. Using an electric hand whisk, beat until light and creamy.
Add the remaining ingredients and whisk again to make a smooth, thick batter. Stir in the chopped pears.
Pour into the prepared dish. Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes until the pudding is well-risen, coming away from the sides of the dish and springy to the touch.
The next step is to make the sauce and for this, measure all the ingredients into a saucepan and heat gently until the butter has melted.
Increase the heat and boil for a couple of minutes, stirring all the time until the sauce has thickened slightly.
Arrange the reserved pear slices along the centre of the dish. Pour half the sauce over the pudding, then pour the rest into a warm jug. Serve the pudding warm with the sauce and some ice cream, custard or cream.
If prepared ahead, the pudding can be made and cooked, without the sauce, up to six hours ahead. The sauce can be made up to two days ahead.
