Pear and ginger pudding

Puddings make the world go round. Or, they do in our house at least. My boyfriend can't go far without pudding after his dinner. This pear and ginger sponge pudding is simple but very taste, and good for budgets.

4oz butter
4oz caster sugar
4oz self-raising flour
2 eggs
1 tin pear halves
1/2 crystallised ginger piece

Cream together the butter and sugar until,pale and fluffy.
Beat the eggs, then stir into the mixture.
Sieve the flour and add to mixture.
Meanwhile, drain the pear halves, and arrange on the bottom of a suitable ovenproof dish.
Chop the ginger then sprinkle over the pear halves.
Spoon the sponge mixture over the pears and smooth.
Bake in the oven at 180 degrees (160 fan) for about 40-50 minutes. I think that was how long it took - I took it out after about 30 minutes and it was still batter in the middle, and it seemed to take ages.
Serve with a little cream, if you like.

You could put more ginger in if you like more of a tang, as this amount was quite subtle but worked well.

I would like to enter this into the brilliant Tea Time Treats blog challenge for February, this month hosted by the lovely What Kate Baked.

Lemon drizzle cake - Tea Time Treat

My boyfriend's favourite cake is the old traditional lemon drizzle cake. I've never attempted this before, as I always think it's a bit of a safe option and I end up thinking of something more complicated to make. It's a light, fluffy cake, ideal for the summer fair cake stall tea time treats challenge! Find out more about tea time treats from Lavendar & Lovage and What Kate Baked. 

However, all did not go to plan. It was less drizzle, and more a damp soggy Wednesday in Britain - just like the current British summertime where the sunshine is still evading us. The drizzle didn't go crunchy at all like it's supposed to - none of the attractive dusting of sugary snowfall that you'd expect from a lemony fair treat. I followed the recipe to the letter (I even used the right flour this time) but it just didn't work. No crispy drizzle. It was positively soggy.

It was quite nice - the tart lemon was just enough, the sponge was light and soft, but the top half was soggy. There are no other words for it. Soggy. It worked as a good dessert, but not as a cake really. Although Steve thought it was delicious, I was disappointed.

Do you have any ideas why it didn't quite work? Perhaps I should have used a greater ratio of sugar to lemon juice for the drizzle glaze?

This is a recipe from 'The Great British Book of Baking' that accompanied the first series of The Great British Bake Off (how excited am I for the next series to start in August!).

200g very soft marg
250g caster sugar
3 eggs beaten
Finely grated zest of 2 lemons
250g self-raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
100ml milk at room temp

Preheat oven to 180 degrees (160 fan).
Put marg, sugar, eggs and lemon zest in bowl. Sift in flour and baking powder. Mix together until combined and smooth.
Pour into prepared tin. Bake for about 35-40 mins.

When nearly baked, mix together 100g caster sugar, the juice of 2 lemons, and the zest of 1 lemon. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, poor the glaze over the top. Leave to cool completely in the tin before turning out. I only have a small loaf tin so this mixture made a few fairy cakes as well (they were also soggy and not crunchy).

If you've made this one, or any other lemon drizzle recipe, please comment and tell me how crunchy yours was!