Pear Tart With Toffee Shards - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
2 firm pears, peeled and quartered
2 large eggs
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
zest of one orange
1 lemon, zest of
100 g unsalted butter, melted
1 cup self-raising flour

Preparation

Preheat oven to 170 C fanforced (190 conventional).
Grease a 20 cm round cake tin with removable base. Line the base with baking paper.
Place sugar and water in a small saucepan and warm gently until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat slightly and continue to cook until the liquid turns a light amber/caramel colour.
Pour the sugar liquid into the cake tin and swirl around the base.
Place the peeled and quartered pears on the cake tin base, with points touching in the centre to form a flower pattern.
Beat together the eggs, brown sugar, vanilla essence and zests. Add the melted butter to the mixture.
Mix the flour into the batter mixture, and then place spoonfuls of the mixture over the pears, aiming to completely cover the pears, but not disturbing their positioning.
Bake in the oven for 30 -40 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the centre.
Remove from the oven and carfeully invert onto a plate when still warm. You may that the toffee runs a little or sticks to the paper base. Pull the toffee off and place as shards on the cake surface.