It’s tough being a new parent, what with the constant feeding and lack of sleep. I am not sure how you can train for this, but it’s safe to say that these early days will soon settle. The continual disruption will be forgotten and the experience will form part of your collected memories of parenthood.
I can say this because I was a mother before I became a grandmother. It’s a privilege to have both roles.
We had a short and simple family lunch today, with the (10-day old) baby twins’ first visit to our house. We took turns to hold them, so everyone could have lunch at some point.
Dessert was a pear and chocolate cake as I had some pears to use up. The other option would have been to make Junior Two’s Pear and Chocolate Crumble, but a cake is the better option to make ahead.
I used the chocolate and almond cake recipe as a base. Baking it in a much larger tin creates an illusion that it is a very big cake, but in fact the cake layer is modestly thin. There is enough for a second slice, if you so wish. The cake was served with a vanilla custard as the weather is still so cold and windy.
For the Cake:
165 g cold unsalted butter, cut into several large pieces
165 g 70 % dark chocolate chips (I used Callebaut‘s 70-30-38)
165 g ground almonds
125 g caster sugar
4 large eggs
3 tablespoons rum
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Large pinch of fine sea salt
3 – 5 pears
Crème fraîche/ clotted cream/ vanilla ice cream/ custard, for serving
You will also need a 28 cm round loose-bottom baking tin, sides greased with butter and bottom lined with baking parchment.
How to make:
Preheat oven to 155°C fan/ 170°C electric.
In a small saucepan, melt the butter together with the chocolate over a very low heat, around 2.5 (out of level 9) if you have an induction hob.
(If you are worried about placing the saucepan directly over the heat source, then place the butter and chocolate in a metal or glass bowl over a pot of gently simmering water. The water must not touch the base of the bowl. Stir with a metal spoon until melted.)
Remove the saucepan (or bowl) from the heat, add the rum and vanilla, and leave mixture to cool slightly. Whilst this is cooling, prepare the pears and sift the ground almonds into a bowl with the salt.
Peel and halve the pears. With a sharp knife, make even cuts on the outside of the pear. Make sure the cuts are only half way through the pear, as it needs to remain in one piece. I also used a melon baller to scoop out the core. Set the pear halves aside.
Place the sugar and eggs in the bowl of a free standing electric mixer. Using the balloon whisk attachment, whisk until the mixture has thickened and has the consistency of custard.
Pour the cooled chocolate into the beaten eggs. Gently mix together using a silicon spatula.
Finally, fold in the sifted ground almonds and salt.
Pour the mixture into the prepared baking tin. Top with the pear halves.
Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until the cake bounces back slightly when touched. The bounce will not be very pronounced as there is no gluten in the cake. A metal skewer inserted in the centre should come out clean.
The cake keeps very well for a day or two, so make sure you have some takeaway tupperwares ready for your guests to take some home.