You may want to prepare the pears the day before.
Ingredients
Cake
Roast pears
Method
Main
1.For roast pears, preheat oven to 150C. Peel pears and halve lengthways. Place cut-side down in a baking dish, sprinkle over sugar and drizzle with lemon juice and wine. Cover with foil and bake for up to 4 hours or until tender. Cool. Using a melon baller, remove cores and stem. Strain liquid through a sieve and reserve. Pears may be cooked the day before and refrigerated.
2.Place caster sugar in a small saucepan, add enough water to dampen and cook over high heat for 10 minutes or until caramel in colour. Pour caramel into a 20cm-round cake pan with high sides and swirl to coat base and sides.
3.Process nuts and coconut in a food processor until coarsely chopped, then add half the flour and process to a medium meal. Combine with remaining flour. Using an electric beater, cream butter, sugar and orange rind until fluffy and approximately 3 times its original volume, then add eggs, a little at a time, beating to incorporate each addition before adding next. Using the open palm of your hand, fold nut mixture through creamed mixture until combined.
4.Increase oven to 160C. Arrange pears, round-side down, snugly into cake pan, spoon over cake mixture, place in a baking dish and cover base with 5mm of water. Bake for 2 hours or until firm and golden. Allow cake to cool in pan. Warm base of pan over stove to melt caramel, then invert onto a plate. Serve drizzled with reserved pear liquid and sour cream or crème Anglaise.
Drink Suggestion: Late-harvest muscat. Drink suggestion by Max Allen
Notes