This moist, dense cake has rich buttery notes and can be made with almost any poached seasonal fruit or for ease, canned fruit.

Ingredients

• 250 grams butter, softened
• 1 cup caster sugar
• grated rind of 2 lemons
• 4 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup plain, unsweetened yoghurt
• 3 cups self-raising flour, sifted
• ½ cup semolina
• 410 gram can pear quarters in syrup, drained and juice reserved

Pear syrup

• reserved pear juice
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• ½ cup caster sugar

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Set the oven rack in the centre of just below the centre. Grease and line the base and sides of a 24cm round cake tin with baking paper.
2. Using an electric mixer beat together the butter, sugar and lemon rind until light and fluffy. The mixture should almost triple in volume.
3. Add the egss one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the yoghurt.
4. Fold in the flour and semolina. Transfer to the prepared cake tin an dlevle off.
5. Slice each pear quarter in half and arrange decoratively on top of the cake.
6. Bake in the preheated oven for 1¼ hours until golden and a skewer inserted comes out clean.
7. Drizzle the pear syrup over the hot cake and set aside for at least 1 hour until cool. Serve lightly dusted with icing sugar in chunky wedges with a dollop of softly whipped cream.

Pear syrup

1. While cooking the cake, prepare the syrup. Mix the reserved pear juice with the lemon juice and sugar in a small saucepan. Warm and stir regularly until the sugar has dissolved.

Cooks Tips

Most canned fruit can be used in this recipe - apricots, plums, nectarines or peaches. Canned berries are too soft and canned apples do not have syrup so avoid these.