Ingredients – serves 8

For the cake:

• 2 pears
• 2 eggs
• 125 g butter
• 125g sugar
• 100 g flour
• 50 g ground almonds
• 25 g unsweetened cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting
• 50 ml double cream

For the chocolate buttercream:

• 2 egg whites
• 100 g sugar
• 135 g butter, cut into cubes
• 100 g dark chocolate

Method

Make the cake:

• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.
• Line 2 small springform tins with baking parchment.
• Cream the butter with the sugar, then mix in the eggs.
• Sift the flour and cocoa over the mixture and whisk in until well combined.
• Add the cream and ground almonds and fold together.
• Divide the mixture between the 2 prepared tins, then carefully put a pear in each tin and press down until almost covered.
• Bake the cakes for 45 minutes. Take out of the oven and leave to cool.

Make the chocolate buttercream:

• Put the egg whites and sugar in a mixing bowl, simmer over a pot of water and whisk constantly but gently until the temperature reaches 60°C (if you don’t have a thermometer: until the sugar has completely dissolved and the egg whites are warm), then remove from the heat.
• Whip the warmed egg withes for 10 minutes with the whisk attachment of the mixer, until the meringue is thick, glossy and cooled down.
• Switch over to paddle attachment and mix in the butter cubes, one at a time. Keep mixing until the buttercream has reached a silky smooth texture.
• Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pot of simmering water. Once melted, add to the buttercream and beat until incorporated.

Assemble the cake:

• Cut the cooled cakes in half and core the pears.
• Spread a thick layer of the chocolate buttercream on the bottom half of the cake, put the top layer back on and sandwich together.
• Dust with cocoa powder.