Squidgy pear & hazelnut chocolate spread cake

• jar hazelnut chocolate spread↗400g g
• unsalted butter↗50g g

  softened, plus a little to grease the tin

• large eggs↗3

  at room temperature

• self-raising flour↗140g g
• cocoa↗25g g
• ripe but not squishy pears2

  peeled, quartered and cored (pears with a rounder shape work well)

• apricot jam↗2 tbsp tbsp

  warmed and passed through a sieve

• whole blanched hazelnut↗50g g
• double cream↗

  to serve

Step-by-step instructions

1. 1

   Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Butter then line a round 23cm springform baking tin. Put the chocolate spread in a large bowl and add the butter, eggs and a pinch of salt. Whisk for 1 min with electric beaters until the mixture is smooth and slightly bubbly.

2. 2

   Sift in the flour and cocoa, then fold in with a spatula until smooth. Scrape into the tin and level the top. Peel, quarter and core the pears. Cut 4 slits through the fat part of each quarter, then press lightly to make a fanned shape. Use a pastry brush to glaze the pears with apricot jam, then lift onto the cake in a clock-face pattern. Don’t press the pears into the mix.

3. 3

   Scatter with the nuts and bake for 40 mins until risen with a thin crust. The cake will have a very slight wobble when it’s ready, and a skewer inserted into the middle will come out coated with soft cake batter. Brush another thin layer of the jam over the pears (this stops the fruit from turning brown). Cool in the tin and serve warm or cold, with double cream.